Letters from Jaune
by noruas bombadil
Summary: Jaune is off on a long term mission. Yang is staying at Beacon with her team. They both miss each other, and the only contact they have are the letters he sends. follow them as they grow together while still being apart. takes place after Capannari Chronicles Volume 1 in the Jorge 6 prime timeline.
1. Chapter 1

Yang waited until her team had all fallen asleep before she snuck out and headed for the training building. Her team had opted for the modern huntsman license program so they had left for a few months while the curriculum was written. This was her first night back since and she was on her way to train with James. It wasn't too hard since there wasn't really a force watching the halls at night but, she was still careful not to make too much noise.

Once she had made it to the training building she moved a little more freely. She found the room that she knew James worked in last year and so she opened the sliding paper wood frame door before she took off her shoes and walked onto the mat.

The lights were off and it was hard to see but she could tell that the room was empty. She made her way to the center of the room and looked around. Hanging on one wall was a black and white picture of an old man. There were words under it but she couldn't read them in the dark.

Instead, she headed for one of the two doors she saw. When she slid the door open it lead to a bathroom. And when she slid the other door open she saw that it lead to a bedroom. She slowly made her way into the room and looked around. She didn't see anything but there was a computer open with a word document on the screen.

She squinted to read it but when she did it read. "SURPRISE!"

No sooner had she read it that a hand grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her backward. She went to turn to her left in order to chamber her right hand for a strike when an arm wrapped up from her left armpit and across her chest before a hand grabbed the right side of the back of her neck. She felt a leg sweep out her left leg and she was violently thrown to the ground, her head bouncing off the floor hard.

She managed to roll onto her right side when a right hand reached under her neck and grabbed her left collar. She went to fight the hand when it pulled tight as a knee came to rest on the left side of her neck.

All at once the collar of her shirt and the wrist of her attacker pulled tight and cut off the blood flow to her brain. She knew that she needed to get out of this or else she would pass out but whenever she tried to move she was stopped until she tried to keep rolling to her right when she was forced onto her belly and the knee was moved to the back of her neck.

She could hear herself trying to yell for help while she was choking. All that came out was a sick grunting sound. She was on her own and so she kept fighting trying to get her hands between her neck and her shirt right up until her vision faded and she lost consciousness.

Yang woke up looking at James as he held her feet up. "We need to stop meeting like this," he said as he handed her a glass of water. She drank the water and said

"James, there was someone here. They attacked me and…"

James cut her off with a wave of his hand saying. 'Yeah, that was me. I couldn't see you in the dark and assumed the worst."

Yang understood what he meant. She had just walked in without saying anything so he was right to worry. "Sorry about that," she said getting to her feet. "I wanted to do some training if that is okay with you."

He nodded and said. "Sure, first I need to ask if you know how what ukemi is?"

Yang shook her head to say no and James responded with. "It is the art of falling. And it is the first thing I will teach you," he tossed her a white cotton gi saying "Let's get started."

…

Jorge was sitting at his desk when Raven came in with a worried look on her face. "Did you check your email?" She asked.

Jorge hadn't so he quickly opened his account and saw that Raven had sent him a hyperlink. He clicked on it and a video loaded. It showed a woman that was crouched behind a parked car. She seemed to be waiting for something and it was soon clear what that was. The man who seemed to own that car had just reached it. He slipped his key into the lock and turned until there was a flash of all the lights.

Then she pounced. She vaulted over the hood of the car and when the man turned to see who it was he was rewarded with a shoe landing squarely on his face. He was staggered and before he could react the woman grabbed him from behind and in a quick fluid motion broke his neck.

His body instantly went limp as the life drained from his corpse. She laid the body in the backseat and searched it for the keys. Once she had them she got into the driver seat and drove out of the camera's view.

Jorge hadn't seen her face but he knew who it was. It was Cinder Fall. He would need to talk to Orin about why she was still alive later. But for now, he had an appointment. It was a young man from Atlas named Henry Marigold. He had asked to meet with Jorge shortly after Jorge became the headmaster of Beacon.

He needed some time to get to Beacon which was odd but Jorge wasn't going to judge him if he wasn't running to this meeting. He had arrived in Vale a little less than a week ago and his appointment was today.

The door of the elevator opened to reveal a tall and lean boy with grayish blue hair. He had the golden eyes of the Marigold family while he at first glance looked well dressed. A further inspection yielded that his clothes were all wore and had begun to tear at the stitches.

"Mr. Marigold, please come in. How may I help you?" Jorge had a good idea as to why he was here but he still wanted to give him a chance to speak for himself.

He calmly strode across the room and when he arrived at Jorge's desk he reached into his jacket's inside pocket and withdrew a black and white photograph.

He placed the photograph on the desk and said. " I am looking for the people in this photograph." he tapped the two figures in the photograph and waited for Jorge to respond.

And respond he did. " And why should I know where they are, and why should I help you find them?"

Henry seemed to be getting annoyed with the way Jorge was handling the situation but he needed to have Jorge help so he pushed past it saying. "If you would like I can make sure you are compensated for the effort."

Jorge knew he was lying but he let him keep going. " I need to find them, please sir."

Jorge knew why he was looking for the two in the picture and he knew why he couldn't let Henry find them. It was at this moment that team RWBY decided to ignore the standing protocol and simply walk into the headmaster's office.

No sooner had Henry seen them than he turned and drew a pistol that he had hidden in his vest and leveled it at Blake. Who in turn began to look for the nearest cover. Before anything else could happen Weiss rushed forward and shoved the gun away from Blake and began to fight for control of the weapon.

The rest of her team soon joined in and once they had wrestled the weapon from him Weiss yelled. "What the HELL is wrong with you?"

By now Jorge had gotten out of his chair and was holding the young man back as he screamed. "YOU MURDERED MY FAMILY, YOU ANIMAL WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I WILL FUCKING DECIMATE YOU"

While he was shouting his voice was nearly breaking and there were tears in his eyes which prompted Weiss to step between the two of them and ask. "What are you talking about? Blake hasn't murdered anyone!"

By now the blind rage that was consuming him a moment ago had passed and he was simply staring with eyes that could pierce steel. "Over a year ago your friend attacked a train. They destroyed everything on board. My family's entire fortune was on that train, and it was all destroyed in a moment. We lost everything"

Now it was Ruby who stepped in, her face a mix of shock and anger, as she asked. "So you just tried to kill my friend because you aren't rich anymore? Are you kidding me?"

Henry gave an empty chuckle that sent a chill down Ruby's spine. "Do you know what happens to an Atlesian family when they go from being successful and prosperous weapons dealers to being impoverished?" he said. Ruby wanted to answer but she didn't have one so she stayed silent. " My father lived for about two weeks before he was killed by a car bomb on his way home from the factory he had just gotten a job at, my mother was with my uncle when this all started. We still had some security forces but they were having to be let go one after another as we ran out of money to pay them with."

By now he wasn't looking at anyone or thing but staring into nothingness. It was a look Yang had seen on Jaune and it made her sick to see it again. "When the white fang assassins came they fought valiantly but died for their effort. I had known some of those men since I was a boy barely able to talk." Ruby was getting ready to wilt so he turned to give Blake the same thousand-yard stare saying. " And now I can't even afford to give their families the death benefits they were promised. Nine of my best friend's are dead because of that day. Five of them were the guards who were there and the other two where my mother and Uncle. Thankfully for my mother, my uncle killed her before they found them. He had to use his last bullet to do that so he was taken alive. My baby sister and brother came home from school and were taken too."

Whatever he had been seeing it was getting worse as his eyes were misting again. " I was away at an internship when this happened, I almost wish I was there so that I could have died with them." he was crying now, his shoulders shaking slightly. " do any of you know what it's like to have to identify the bodies of your family after they had been raped to death and then mutilated."

Now Ruby was crying herself. It was her damned empathy she was always like an emotional sponge just sucking up whatever feeling was most present. he didn't seem to notice so he kept going with his empty stare bore through Blake's soul. "After that, my Father and I moved to a small working town named Argus on the edge of Atlas. He got a job at a nearby factory as an engineer and I went to school under a changed name. When he died I lost all of my sense, I tried to kill the next Faunus I saw. The damn beast seemed to take pity on me and just left me broken in an alley. From there a young couple took me in and got me back on my feet. They meant well but I couldn't stay, I had finally found out what I was meant to do."

Now his empty gaze was replaced with one of pure hatred and determination and his voice was an unsettling calm as he said. " I am going to kill you, your friend in that photograph and any animal that gets in my way"

He shook free from Jorge and walked away. When he reached the elevator he half looked over his shoulder and said, "Headmaster I now understand why you won't help. I hope you all burn in hell."

As he closed the elevator he turned and gave Blake one last soul stabbing look. She knew that she hadn't seen the last of him. And everyone knew it.

Once the elevator had left Blake broke. She fell to her knees sobbing. She was quickly swarmed by her team, all of them trying to console her telling her that she didn't do this. It was with tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat that she said. "But I did, I attacked that train, I killed that boy's family."

Jorge placed his hand through the pile and rested it on her shoulder saying. "NO, you didn't. All you did was make what happened more likely. It was still wrong but YOU didn't kill anyone."

He knew that she would still blame herself for what happened but Jorge also knew that she needed any support she could get. She hadn't really thought about what would happen as a result of her attack. She most likely thought that since they were only doing financial damages then no one was really getting hurt.

What she had forgotten was that the White Fang had placed a bounty on the heads of several major businessmen and their families. Now she had to think about everyone who had died because of that.

Jorge silently returned to his desk and began to type up a warning to all staff that henry Marigold was to be escorted off of campus A.S.A.P. with that done Jorge sent Galmaron an email telling him to be expecting a visit from Blake soon.

In the absence of Glynda, he had become the defacto psychologist. He wasn't certified but he had seen it all and knew what he was doing.

He saw that they were getting ready to leave so he called out. "Yang," when she turned she saw him offer her a stack of letters. Her face brightened slightly even as she tried to hide it. They were from Jaune and had been waiting for them. Since he was always moving around some letters arrived sooner than others so Jorge would hold them for a few weeks until a coherent series of events could be understood. This time he held them for the entire break with was a few months so the backlog meant she was getting quite a few.

She walked over still trying to seem too eager and took the letters before boarding the elevator with the rest of her team. They journeyed to their room in silence. When they arrived Blake went and sat on her bed saying. "I know you all want to help but right now I need time to think."

They all understood so they headed their separate ways with Ruby and Weiss going to the armory and chemistry lab respectively and Yang heading to the library. Her muscles and joints all ached from training with James last night so she wanted to sit and read, namely, she wanted to read the letters Jaune had written her.

She sat down in her favorite bean bag chair and removed the rubber band holding all the letters together. She found the one that was dated the farthest back and unfolded it.

 _Dear Yang,_

 _I have just had one of the weirdest target renditions ever. I was able to narrow down the location to a bar and while I was there I was approached by a woman. I wanted to tell her that she wasn't going to get anywhere when I noticed that SHE was my target._

 _I let her keep going for a few hours until she was very drunk and we were some of the only people in the bar. She eventually tried lead me outside. And I let her, right until we were in the parking lot where I slapped the handcuffs on her._

 _It was fun to watch her run through a cycle of anger, then excitement, until she realised that I was arresting her. Then she went back to angry. It was by far the most fun I have had in a long time._

 _I thought that I would be ready for whatever this assignment could through at me but I guess I was wrong, well that is all I have to say for now. I hope you are reading these. I know that I have no right to hope so, not after what I said but the fact remains. I miss you. I miss Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha and Luke . And I miss you_

The last section of writing had since been scribbled over. She wondered what Jaune had written that he had wanted to keep to himself but she knew that she couldn't find out now so she put the first one down and picked up the next one.

 _Dear Yang,_

 _I don't know anymore. I have been tracking down Ozpin's underlings for a while now. Whenever I catch up to one I do everything I can to take them alive. But I guess that I shouldn't be two surprised that Ozpin wouldn't work with folks who would come quietly._

 _I have been hunting and hunting but there always seems to be more of them. And the more I kill or capture the more the others start getting ready. I already have a few new scars from all of this. And I have lost some good men too._

 _The worst ones are the ones who decide that they won't fight fair. They take hostages and if i can't kill them fast enough they kill the hostage. Sometimes they realize that they won't get away so they kill the hostage to force my hand. Then there are the ones that are simply monsters. I won't make you carry the weight of what I have seen them do but. It got worse than usual recently._

 _One of them learned who was working with me. A local sheriff named Griffin. They went after his family, I had to help him bury his wife and two sons. I have been where he was and I knew that he wasn't going to come back from this so when I left I took most of his ammo. I was just making it to my bike when I heard the gunshot._

 _I still lay awake at night thinking about the silence that followed that gunshot. I didn't bury him, and I regret it to this day. But I couldn't face him again, my quest had killed his family, and it had killed him._

The tone of the letter and the way it ended made Yang want to hold Jaune. She knew that he was going through a lot and he desperately needed someone to hold him close and tell him that the world with keep turning.

Cardin had told her about what happened that night in the gardens. The night Jaune almost took his own life. And it only made her want him here more. If he kept going like this then eventually he would break again and she shuddered at the thought of what may happen if he broke while he was alone.

She wanted to keep reading but the last letter had left her feeling drained. So she headed back to her dorm. When she arrived she saw Blake was on her scroll talking to her parents. She had gone back to visit them during the break from school. It had done her good so now she was talking to them. She was still clearly upset by what she had been told.

Her parents seemed to more interested in making sure she was okay that whether or not she had been involved in terrorist actions. It reminded her of her own trip home during the break. Her and Ruby went back and forth between Patch and the Arc cabin during the break. Their father missed them but so did Mama Arc.

Her father had found himself in the position to offer counsel to both his children. His first wife had left him and his second had died. And his oldest daughter's first love left her and his second's had died.

Weiss had actually stayed at Beacon. But that was because of Raven and Galmaron.

Yang smiled when she thought of how that had happened. Before the school closed for a few months to finalize things, Raven and Galmaron had taken on the role of teachers. Raven taught combat class under the name Mrs. Telmarvak (a fact Yang was not okay with) and Galmaron taught dust chemistry and history while Oobleck was on medical leave (something about getting shot in the kneecap).

At one time Weiss had a question for Galmaron so she went to his office during his office hours. She forgot to knock and instantly regretted it as she saw far more of Mr. and Mrs. Telmarvak than she ever wanted to see.

When she went to Jorge he told her that they were volunteers and that he couldn't afford to fire them so maybe she should go to them when they aren't working.

She thought she was being very sneaky when she knocked on their door at eight pm but she was shocked when Galmaron opened the door and invited her in. They sat down at the table and Weiss noticed that there were table settings placed. She had accidentally come to them right before dinner and she was going to excuse herself until she noticed that Galmaron had sat her down in front of a third place setting.

While she was thinking about this Raven brought out a large pot that seemed to be filled with soup. She ladled them all out some and before Weiss knew it she was having dinner with her teachers.

After a few bites Galmaron asked her "Now Weiss what was your question?"

Weiss suddenly remembered that she had come here to get an answer for a question she had in one of her labs. "Yes professor…" With a wave of his hand Galmaron cut her off. "Please, we aren't even in class call me Gal, or even Gail. I answer to both at this point."

Weiss nodded before she continued "With my dust reaction lab my results all show that I have much higher amounts of energy being given off at an inconsistent rate and I don't know why."

Galmaron ate a spoonful of soup and thought for a moment before saying " did you use ice and fire dust?"

Weiss already had an answer which she offered " no, that wouldn't work according to the fifth and seventh postulate of dust chemistry. so I actually applied the fire to air dust why?"

He thought for another moment and said. "How hot was the fire?"

Weiss thought and remembered saying. " I had it at four hundred degrees Fahrenheit."

Galmaron nodded once saying "There it is, air dust has a very high activation temperature. According to the sixth postulate since the heat, while high wasn't high enough to activate the air dust in time you effectively supercharged it. So it kept on building up energy that was most likely set off by any number of independent variables you have no control over thus giving you the inconsistent and extremely high results."

Weiss wanted to slap herself. How had she forgotten one of the simplest rules of chemistry? She also wondered if she should leave. But she realized that she was now apart of dinner and to leave now would be rude.

...

Yang smiled as she remembered the day she found out that Weiss had been sneaking out to have dinner with her mother and her new stepfather. She was still getting used to that part.

Yang sat down on her own bed as Blake said goodbye to her parents and hung up her scroll. "So," Blake said rolling over to look up at Yang's bed. "You got mail huh."

"Yep," Yang said not wanting to discuss the matter further in case Blake didn't approve of her reading of Jaune's letters.

Blake didn't offer any words she simply rolled back over and tried to take a nap. Naps were a surprisingly common thing at the new Beacon. The courses were mostly physical training. If you weren't on the range learning how best to use whatever you long weapon of choice in a tactical capacity, or working on your weapons, you were with one of Professor Port's hunting parties. Which were just a party of three to eight students that went out into the emerald forest with one of Port's advanced students? They would find small groups of Grimm and then the advanced student would teach about how to handle them.

And any time not spent doing that was spent training in the hand to hand to dueling wings. All that was left was enough time to eat and sleep. And after all of that most students had no trouble sleeping.

Yang wanted to get some sleep herself since she had a hunting trip in a few hours but she thought better of it because she wanted to read a few more letters. She found the next one in sequence and unfolded the dried out and sun damaged paper. That meant that Jaune was still in Vacuo when he wrote this letter.

 _Dear Yang,_

 _I am sorry that I didn't write after my latest mission. After what happened to Griffin I kinda feel into a funk. I was in a dark place and I couldn't see a way out. I have cut ties with my former life and all of you. But I didn't know if I wanted to keep going like this. I actually found myself staring down the barrel of my own gun a few times. Once I even loaded it. I was flicking the safety on and off when I realized that I still had more to do in this world._

 _I found myself in a small town in southern Vacuo. One of the kids recognized my longcoat as being one of the coats worn by the Rangers. That's what the men who Jorge has been sending to find Ozpin's contacts have taken to calling themselves. Apparently a Ranger helped save this town a while back and the boy never forgot the longcoat._

 _He was so happy to see me. It really helped me remember that there was still good in this world. I think that with all of the evil I have been hunting I may have forgotten that. I still miss all of you, but I don't think the day will ever come that I don't. I have to go now, my target just showed up, I need to do this fast._

Yang was shocked at what she was reading. She couldn't believe it. When she realized that she was moving she was already in the elevator to Jorge's office. The door opened and she saw Jorge look at her like he was going to chastise her for failing to knock before but when he saw that way she was looking he thought better of it.

"Yang, what seems to be the matter?" he asked as he put down his pen and stood up behind his desk.

"I want Jaune brought back to Beacon!" she said. Her voice showed that she was both worried and desperate. If she could see herself then she would also notice that her hair was showing the beginning signs of lighting up.

"I can't do that Yang, Jaune asked me to keep him as far from Beacon as I could," Jorge replied as he stepped out from behind his desk. " I have to honor that wish."

Whether she meant to throw the letter she had just read or not Yang didn't know. She only knew that she violently threw the letter at Jorge who caught it and began to read. When he read about Jaune's near suicide his face turned somber. "I agree that something has to be done but I can't bring him back yet he is needed where he is."

As he spoke Jorge scratched at his beard and said. "I'll tell you what. I will try to get him a partner. Someone to be with him and let him know that the world is worth saving."

Yang didn't like that idea but it was a step in the right direction so she would settle for now. " I want to pick his partner," she said hoping to gain some kind of control over the situation.

Jorge shook his head as he said "No can do. None of the rangers know each other's real names and it needs to stay that way for operational security."

Yang was annoyed but she understood that yelling at Jorge wouldn't help so she bite her tongue and planned to work out her frustrations on one of the heavy bags in the gym.

She wanted to keep trying to get Jaune back but she knew that he was afraid of hurting THEM so getting him back would be difficult, to say the least. Instead, she reluctantly settled on Jorge's plan to assign him a partner and let that be that.

She headed back to the elevator and was at the door when Jorge said. "Oh, by the way. I have a mission for you and your team."

Yang turned to look at him more than a little confused as to why he would assign them a mission after the day they had but she could tell from the way he said it that this was important so she asked. "What is it, and where is it?"

Jorge quickly answered with. "Weiss' brother Whitley was supposed to arrive here months ago. Klein called looking for him today and when I told him he wasn't here he got worried. He said that Whitley's debit card was used to secure a dinner reservation at a restaurant tonight. I want team RWBY to go check it out."

Yang nodded and stepped into the elevator taking out her scroll and sending her team a text outlining what was going on. She just got out of the elevator when she was meet with her team's answers.

Weiss: WHAT, fine I will get my gear and meet out at the docks.

Blake: Who is Whitley, how are we gonna get in the restaurant.

Ruby: He's Weiss' little brother and I don't know.

Jorge: The restaurant is expecting you

Yang: How are you in this chat?

Yang: Seriously HOW?

Ruby: It doesn't matter Yang just be at the Docks in five minutes.

Yang put her scroll back in her pocket and headed to the locker room to get her weapons. She meet James on the way and when they passed he patted her on the shoulder and also slipped her a note. He actually did it so well she didn't notice it at first. When she read the piece of paper that was tucked into the collar of her jacket it said. " when you get the chance come to the Sambo room"

She crumpled the note and almost tossed in the nearest trash can when she thought that if he went through all the effort of getting this to her covertly then maybe she shouldn't just throw it away where anyone can find it.

She placed the crumpled paper into her pocket and got her weapons. Attaching both gauntlets to her arms she collapsed them into their bracelet form and made her way to the docks her team was waiting for her and once they were all aboard the door was closed and the bullhead lifted off.

Yang looked out the window of the bullhead to see the city of Vale with most of its lights on but devoid of all natural light. It was gonna be an interesting night.


	2. Chapter 2

Team RWBY jumped the four feet to the ground from the back of the bullhead. When they had all touched down they looked around to do a self-assessment. They were all there so as one they headed for the restaurant around the corner. When they were at the door the matron smiled at them before quietly asking. "Are you here from Beacon?"

"Yes," Ruby said hoping she was quite enough to avoid alerting the customers. Her, Blake and Weiss had all left their weapons on the bullhead to avoid just that. It meant that they were unarmed but Yang still had her gauntlets in their bracelet form.

The Matron showed them to the security room where they saw a set of screens showing the surveillance cameras from the restaurant. On one screen they could see an older couple eating and laughing. On another, they saw a man in a suit and tie who was eating alone. Then Weiss saw her brother on one. "There he is," she said pointing to the screen he was being shown on. A boy that looked a little like Weiss could be seen sitting across from a girl who looked to be about his age.

They were sitting and eating dinner in silence but it didn't seem awkward. Ruby considered going in and talking to him but she knew that if her team did that then they would just cause a scene. She decided to instead wait here for him to leave and talk to him then. Ruby turned to the Matron and asked. " Can I get a few chairs in here for my team? we don't want to cause a commotion on the floor but we could be here for a while."

The woman nodded and without a word she left to gather the needed chairs. While she was away Ruby looked to Weiss and said. " Do you know who the girl with your brother is?"

Weiss shook her head and answered " No I can't say that I do. But there is something about her that I don't like."

Yang laughed from her spot near the door. "I know what it is Weiss Cream" Normally Weiss would have groaned at the pun but at the moment she was more concerned with her brother. She doubted that Yang really knew what about the girl was setting her off but she had to ask just in case.

"Oh really Yang, what is it then?" she asked her doubt clearly showing in her voice.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yang asked trying to draw out the tension. She wanted to annoy Weiss and she was succeeding.

"Out with it Xiao Long" she barked hoping that if Yang didn't fear her tone she would at least respect it.

She was in luck as Yang respected her tone or had her fill with the tension and said. " the smile on her face the way she is gazing into his eyes and trying to hold her chest out. Weiss, she is clearly hitting on him and this is a date"

"WHAT?' Weiss all but screamed as she glued her eyes to the screen. She chose not to watch the girl and instead watch her brother. She knew how he was raised and she knew that signs he had been trained to show when he was attempting to court a woman.

She started at the ground. When she saw his feet were both pointing directly at. She kept going and saw that his legs were uncrossed and his knees were spread slightly. It was a clear sign of dominance, he was taking up space and practically challenging someone to stop him. Next, she looked at his hips and saw that they were perpendicular to the girl he was dining with. As she kept going up she saw that his right hand was holding his wine glass and his left hand had since reached across the table and was holding the mystery girl 's. Weiss continued up and saw that his shoulders were squared with her's just like his hips. It was another clear sign that he was attempting to court her. He was subconsciously facing her and giving her his full attention.

The only thing that didn't make sense was that they weren't talking. They were just sitting and eating as they stared at each other. It honestly concerned Weiss. Not that she would ever admit that. If she did then Yang would never let her hear the end of it.

After she watched them for a few minutes she noticed that Whitley was talking and that she simply couldn't see his face from the camera angle. She looked and found a second camera that showed them and on this one, she saw his face. He was smiling a sight that on its own was a red flag. Furthermore, he was showing his teeth whenever he smiled. It looked rather cute but Weiss hadn't seen him do that since he was baby. He had always been taught to keep his mouth closed and in that vein when he smiled he did so in a toothless fashion.

Weiss didn't want to admit it but she was glad to see him in such a good mood. Whitley had always been an outcast child. He had never said much in his youth. What little he had said was typically answering a direct question or a simple restating of what Jacques had just said.

Even though she was happy to see him like this she didn't trust the look of the girl he was eating with. Weiss wasn't certain but there was something about her that had put Weiss on edge. There was a knock at the door and when Yang opened it she saw the matron holding a set of folding chairs. Ruby thanked her and then took the chairs setting them up so that ever chair could see the monitors.

They sat there in awkward silence for about twenty minutes. They watched Whitley and the woman he was with finish their meal and order a dessert. Ruby could feel Weiss growing colder when the waiter brought out a single dish of ice cream with two spoons.

It was both amusing and concerning to see her get so protective. Thankfully she seemed to have glossed over the fact that he seemed to be drinking wine which would have been illegal for him to do. Ruby was also concerned with the fact that Weiss didn't seem to understand that the things she was feeling were standard fare for big sisters.

When they saw Whitley ask for the check they all got up and folded their chairs up. After the chairs were stacked against the wall in a neat fashion they looked and saw Whitley leaving out the main door with the girl they all followed him.

They caught up to him after two blocks when Weiss walked up to him and said. "Just WHERE do you think you are going, young man?" It made Yang grin to hear Weiss try to use her best attempt at a mom voice. In truth, it wasn't too bad but it needed work. It got Whitley to turn around all the same though.

"Well, I am going home sister. By the way, it's good to see you. How have you been?" he asked. He had a polite smile that Yang didn't trust on his face.

Weiss was fuming at this point. She had been worried about Whitley's safety until they found him and when they found him he was on a date with a girl that Weiss had never met. After months of hiding without telling anyone where he was, he now had the nerve to act like everything was okay.

"Are you kidding me. What do you mean how have I been? Where have you been and who the Hell is this." Weiss said motioning at the girl to his left.

Whitley's smile didn't seem to change in any way when he answered. "Well, sister when I asked you how you were I meant it. I am sorry I haven't been in touch with you I have been a little distracted recently. Also" he said gesturing to the girl he was with saying "this is my friend. we meet a few months ago and have been getting along fabulously."

Weiss hated what he was doing. He was being evasive while also be honest. Answering her questions without really giving her anything. She was already working had to contain her anger so when he simply turned to walk away she took a step after him and all but said. "Oh, no you are coming to Beacon whether you want to or not."

As she was stepping forward the girl with Whitley snapped her head to look at Weiss in a way that sent a chill down Ruby's spine and had Blake reaching for the knife she had hidden in her coat. The small girl with technicolor hair was glaring pure death at Weiss and it froze the Schnee in her tracks.

Just as it looked like the mystery girl was about to attack Whitley placed his right hand on her shoulder and in a firm yet somehow still even voice said. "I'll handle this Neo." he gently turned the girl around and looked at Weiss. "That was a very bad Idea you just had sister presuming Neo didn't kill you I just might have." he had hoped that what he had said would shock his sister long enough for him and Neo to walk away and it seemed to do just that. She was frozen in place trying to decide if she wanted to yell in anger or cry.

When he turned to leave Yang final burst. She had been angry this whole time because of Jorge but she had been keeping it in check. Now someone was threatening her teammate and she blamed this Neo girl for it. "Okay Ice cream girl. You and I need to talk" she said moved to grab Neo only to feel a slight pressure on the inside of her thigh.

She looked down to see the end of a cane pressed against her leg. She followed the cane and saw that Whitley was holding it. She was going to tell him to fuck off when she looked into his eyes. She had never seen eyes that looked both so apathetic and yet furious at the same time. Like he didn't care about the fact that he was threatening someone but was enraged that someone would threaten Neo.

"Do you know what happened to the first person I saw threaten Neo?" he asked her. His smile was gone and now all that was there was a cold and emotionless glare. Yang didn't want to answer so she simply glared at him until he kept going. "He bled to death in an alleyway about five blocks from here. Tell me, would you like to join him?"

Now he had her attention. Yang couldn't tell is he was being serious or if he was trying to intimidate her. "Weiss," she asked. "Is he bluffing?"

After a moment Weiss answered in a voice that showed both shock and fear. "I don't know," she said.

Yang seemed to be deep in thought before her common sense and fear took over and she took a step back.

"Good," Whitley said returning the cane to its place at his side. Without another word he turned and hooked his arm around Neo's before walking away down the street. This time nobody tried to stop them.

Yang and Weiss were both silent with Weiss being shocked that her brother threatened to kill her and then one of her friends. And Yang simply too mad to speak. Ruby called their pilot telling him that their mission was over. He said he was on his way and that they would need to sit tight for a minute or two.

Their flight back to Beacon was just as quiet and uneventful as the wait for their pilot. When they had reached Beacon and where stepping off the boarding ramp Blake spoke up and said. "out of curiosity did anyone see the way Neo was looking at Whitley?" everyone else was to busy focusing on the fact that Whitely was threatening to kill Yang so they all shook their heads no. "well," Blake said. "With the way she was looking at him, I'm pretty sure she wanted to tear that suit off of him as soon as she could."

"WHAT," Weiss screamed. Yang laughed and with a nod towards Ruby she walked off to find the Sambo room. As she left she could hear Weiss going off on an obscene rant about the "Ice Cream slut who was stealing her brother."

Yang wanted to chuckle but she knew all too well what Weiss was feeling. She had been there herself when she caught Ruby and Bud cuddling in the garden. Bud didn't threaten to kill anyone though.

She found the sambo room just next door to the judo room which made sense seeing as James had told her that Sambo came from Judo. the door was locked but she still had the master key that Glynda had given last year.

She used it to unlock the door and saw a man standing in the center of the room with the only light being directly above his head illuminating him and about three feet in each direction. He didn't see her and seemed to be trying to find someone who was in the darkness that enveloped most of the room.

"Alright," he said. "You called me here, who are you?"

There was silence for a few seconds before he was answered by a voice that came from the darkness. " Wilhelm Gauch." the voice said. "For years you raped and murdered anyone you thought you could. Which was normally any Fanus that didn't have too many friends. Your actions have been overlooked by the previous administration because of your willingness to do whatever you were told no matter how horrific." when it finished speaking a light came on and lit up another three feet around Wilhelm. When it did James could be seen circling around him in a counterclockwise way.

After a few seconds, a new voice started talking this one held much more venom than James' had just moments earlier. "That ends tonight," it said. Once it had finished another set of lights showed a boy with caramel skin and short hair who looked to be about seventeen years old who was circling around in a clockwise fashion.

Wilhelm was trying to turn so that he had them both in sight at once but he couldn't because they were going in opposite directions and at different speeds. "Who are you two?" he asked.

He was answered by a voice from the still dark part of the room. "They're my brothers," it said as the lights above expanded the circle revealing a boy with dark skin and hair shorter than the second boys'.

"And who are you?" he asked clearly getting tired of this. The new boy was circling counterclockwise at a different speed than both James and the second boy.

"They are my sons." a new voice spoke from the darkness. Afterward, the circle expanded again to show a man who looked just like James but without glasses an only a mustache as opposed to James' signature goatee.

He too began to circle going clockwise at a different speed from everyone else. Wilhelm was getting dizzy just trying to keep up with the two closest to him. "What the hell is this!" he demanded his panic showing through his voice.

"Vengeance" a fifth voice called as the circle grew one last time to show a man who was about as tall as James but looked skinner and had a much larger beard.

In his confusion, Wilhelm took his eyes off of James with proved to be a big mistake. James launched off his right foot to throw a lead overhand punch that landed clean. The blow staggered Wilhelm making him turn slightly to his right.

A turn that set him up to be hit by a left straight from the second boy. This turned him back to James who threw a spinning heel kick with his left leg from a southpaw stance. The kicked landed on the left side of Wilhelm's face and turned him even further round this time. Once he had begun to get his footing back the third boy stepped in close and landed a corkscrew uppercut with his lead hand from an orthodox stance followed by a right hook to the head and a heavy left uppercut to the body.

The liver shot bent Wilhelm over and he was on his way to the ground when James and the third boy stepped back allowing the man with the mustache and the man with the beard to step in and attack. The bearded man brought his right knee up into Wilhelm's nose lifting his head back up just in time for the mustached man to smash his left elbow into the side of Wilhelm's jaw almost knocking him out cold.

As Wilhelm fought to regain his footing the second boy came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him before he leaned backward, popped his hips up and arched his back in what Yang had heard coach Dan refer to as a German suplex and what James had referred to as a Uri Nage.

No matter its name the throw was devastating landing Wilhelm on the back of his head. He was so stunned by the slam that he didn't even try to fight back as all five of them piled onto him. The third boy mounted his chest throwing punches at his face. While this was happening the second boy and mustached man both grabbed one of his arms and began to twist them in unnatural ways. At the same time the bearded man and James each grabbed a leg and began to twist them in unnatural ways as well.

Yang could tell that the bearded man was doing a kneebar on his left leg and that James was using an inside heel hook on his right. She wasn't sure but it looked like the two that were attacking his arms were using some kind of Kimura and Americana. She heard Wilhelm scream in pain as his aura fought to protect him from the damage being dealt. He was trying to escape but he couldn't get any of his limbs free.

He kept screaming until his aura finally gave out and Yang heard several disturbing cracking and popping noises all at once before Wilhelm went silent. She had initially flinched and looked away. When she looked back she wished she hadn't it was a grizzly sight. Both of Wilhelm's arms were twisted at sickening angles and his right leg had a compound fracture from the kneebar. His left leg had his foot bent at an angle that it wasn't supposed to be. His face also looked like it was missing a few teeth.

If Yang was honest it may have been a mercy that the punches that had knocked out Wilhelm's teeth also knock him out. Otherwise, he would be in an immense amount of pain. She watched as everyone who had moments before been assaulting Wilhelm began handing something to the bearded man. After a moment Yang recognized that they had all been wearing brass knuckles. that explained how they had done so much damage to Wilhelm in spite of his aura.

Yang was still shaken at how easily they had destroyed him. In less than fifteen seconds they turned a healthy fourth-year student into a cripple. So when she saw them all start heading her way she froze. Was she not supposed to see that. Was she next? She was getting ready to run when they all just walked past her.

As James approached he said. "Sorry, you had to see that me and my kin had to deal with that guy. I locked the door so I guess you found some way to unlock it?"

Yang had to pick her jaw up off the floor before she could respond. "You just assaulted someone," she said.

James nodded saying "yes we did and he severely needed it. I don't think he'll be raping anymore of his classmates after this. Then again in a few hours, he will be in jail so it doesn't matter too much."

Once Yang remembered what Wilhelm had done that earned him this beating she suddenly lost all sympathy for him. She had wondered what kind of people Ozpin had kept around in spite of their actions but she had never guessed that Ozpin would have protected a rapist.

"Are there any more people like him still at Beacon?" Yang asked.

"Not anymore," James said. " and he was the worst of them" he continued.

As he left the room Yang followed and once the door was closed and locked James sent a text before he looked back to Yang saying. "Now about your training."

...

By the time that Yang had made her way back to her dorm, it was the early hours of the morning and she was exhausted. James had run her through several drills and rounds of fighting that left her feeling drained. It went to show her that when James said he had a lot of fight cardio.

She opened her door slowly and quietly. The lights were all off so she had a good feeling about getting back without getting caught. She would need to explain why she got back late but hopefully, they wouldn't really know how late she was out.

Just as she was entering the bathroom to shower all of the lights turned on at once. She was temporarily blinded but once her eyes had adjusted she saw her entire team all standing by the light switch.

"Goodmorning Yang" Ruby said doing her best to sound like she was in charge. She was doing a pretty good job since Yang felt a sudden spike of fear that she hadn't felt in a long time. "Where have you been?" Ruby asked.

Yang knew that she had to look like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car but she didn't know what to say. Then she realized that she had no reason to not tell her team where she was. It's not like she was doing anything shameful by training with James. But she was also ashamed that she had needed help.

"I was training," she said hoping that her answer would placate her nosy sister.

It didn't and Ruby took a step forward and said. "Cut the crap Yang we know where you were we just wanted to come clean about it."

The aggressiveness that she spoke with caught Yang off guard. "And just where have I been?" Yang asked trying to find out what her team thought was happening.

Weiss spoke next stepping closer saying. " just so you know I support you on this all the way what you are doing is healthy and natural." she sounded too genuine to it to be sarcasm which only scared Yang more.

"What do you think I am doing!" Yang demanded trying to get a straight answer from someone for once.

It was clear that Ruby and Weiss felt too awkward about whatever it was so Blake gave off a frustrated sigh and said. "They think you're sleeping with James," she said before walking over to her bed and climbing in.

"WHAT!" Yang yelled more shocked than anything else.

"Well," Ruby started. "You keep sneaking out to the training hall at night and since James is the only person who is close to your age we figured.."

Yang cut her off saying "well you figured wrong, I am not sleeping with James."

Weiss looked confused before nervously asking. " coach Sonnen then ?" she was referring to one of the new coaches a man whose name was Chael Sonnen.

"WHAT!" Yang yelled more disturbed than confused. "He's a nice guy but that's never gonna happen. Besides he's married. I am not sleeping with anyone. Not coach Sonnen, not James. Not anyone." she said.

Yang walked to her bed and climbed in so that she could get some sleep tonight. Her head hit her pillow and she allowed her eyes to close in what would hopefully be a restful morning.

…

Jorge was asleep in his desk chair when his scroll began to ring. He took a moment to rub the sleep from his eyes before he looked at the screen and saw the caller ID. It read 'James J. Ironwood. (Saint)'. Jorge answered the scroll bringing it to his ear asking. "Morning James, what's up."

There was no response so Jorge activated the GPS to find out where James was. It showed that he was in Vale in one of the old team JSPR safehouses. He went back to the call and asked again "James, if you don't respond I am gonna tear a hole through Vale looking for you."

After a moment James said. "he's dead Jorge, my boy is dead."

Jorge took a deep breathe when he heard James. He was referring to Jackson. James had rescued Jackson from a destroyed house when he was clearing out a ruined town, Jack was less than a year old but he was still traumatized by the experience of having his whole world demolished and his home brought down around him.

James had saved him and before he could send the orphan to social services he found himself bonding with the boy. He adopted him less than a week after he carried him out of the remains of that town.

The boy was raised in part by Ironwood and at times by whichever soldier had the time to watch over him. That was until Glynda Goodwitch found out that Ironwood had adopted a child and was basically raising him in a barracks.

Needless to say, she was not okay with this. She half walked half stormed into the barracks on a mission. By that time the relationship they once had was long since passed. But every man in the barracks knew Glynda by the way Ironwood had described her. She found Jackson in a crib made of chairs a few stray wooden boards and some sheets. When she looked in she saw Jackson teething on a metal ring. When she inspected it further she saw that it was the back of an artillery shell. It had been centered out on a mill and rounded off with steel wool. She could still see where it had "101 mm R&A foundry" on it

Without a word she picked him up and started for the door. There was an unspoken challenge for anyone who dared to try and stop her. And Ironwood dared. By the time she had reached the door, he was standing in it with his arms crossed. It was clear he wasn't going to let her leave so she stopped in front of him saying. "Step aside James."

James stood his ground and said, "No, Glynda put my son back or I will arrest you for trespassing."

Glynda was no more shaken in her intent that James as she held up the steel ring saying. "I found him teething on a piece on an artillery shell James. I don't know what Judge gave you custody of this child but they were insane."

She tried to push past James only to have him shift his feet and push back just enough to stop her. "Glynda," he said his voice now closer to a growl than he had ever used with her before. "In the time you and I have known each other I have never raised my hand to you. If you try to take my son from me. That will change"

Glynda took a step back in shock. She never thought she would live to see the day that James J. Ironwood would threaten her. She looked into his eyes and saw that he meant it. It shook her slightly. She came here thinking that she was saving a baby from a boy who was pretending to be a man. That was how she had seen James that last time they spoke. But this was a different James. She wasn't certain what had changed but something had.

She knew that she wasn't going to win likes this so she reluctantly carried Jackson back to his crib. Thankfully he hadn't seemed to notice the tension in the air and was asleep soon after he was back in his crib.

Glynda and James eventually came to an agreement. They would each take Jackson for half of every month. And they would spend the holidays together.

Jorge was making plans on what to do when he asked Ironwood. "James, does Glynda know?"

He could tell that James was crying by the way he was breathing. Jorge waited for a moment before he heard James answer. "Yeah, she knows"

Jorge was already using his scroll to text Isabao while he kept the call to James going. He told her that she needed to call Glynda and talk to her. He wanted to give her more information but he didn't have the time.

Having settled that Jorge quickly wrote down a note for Raven telling her where he was in case he was gone for a while. With that done he opened a gateway to the safehouse and stepped through to find James sitting with his back to the door. He was slumped forward with his elbows on his knees and his head hung low.

He looked like a pale imitation of the James J. Ironwood that normally lead the entire Atlas Military. Jorge wanted to get to consoling his friend but he knew that more important things needed to be covered first.

"Does Winter know you're here?" Jorge asked as he placed a hand on James' flesh and blood shoulder. He didn't want James' second in command freaking out because her leader went missing.

"She knows," James said his voice was still quiet and near its breaking point. "I left Hiram in command" he continued.

Jorge knew that was good. Hiram was a competent leader and he could keep the military and academy from falling apart for a few days. Or however long James's needed.

"James, are you gonna be okay?" Jorge asked. He could see the scratches on his face and the large bruise that was forming under his left eye.

"I don't know Jorge. I just don't know." James still hadn't moved from where he was sitting. Jorge sat down next to him and asked.

"Did Glynda give you that eye?" Jorge knew that when Glynda found out she probably blamed James and lashed out at him. She normally wouldn't have but she wasn't in a very stable mindset at the moment and losing Jackson would be devastating.

James didn't respond with the word just nodding his head. Jorge wrapped an arm around James' shoulders. His brother in arms needed him and so here he would stay. He knew that if he wasn't in his office tomorrow then note or not Raven wouldn't be happy. But she would have to understand given the situation.

Jorge had never lost a child in this life but he had lost friends. He wasn't sure that the two compared but he still knew some of the things that would be going through James' head. Things like. "You should have been there, this is your doing, his life was in your hands and you sent him into death's embrace." James may not say them but he was thinking them.

And right now Jorge was doing all that he could. His teammate needed him so he would be here for him.


	3. Chapter 3

Raven woke up with a headache. She had been out drinking so that wasn't too unexpected. After Christmas, she was broken. She had always known that no matter what she did. No matter who she let down or hurt. Tai would still love her. Or at least she thought he would.

She was still haunted by what he had said. "It's not that I don't love you. I do but I an not in love with you". Such a simple sentence but it carried so much pain. Even after Ozpin disavowed her and threw her to the wolves in the hopes that someone would kill her for him. She knew that if she ever went to Tai he would welcome her with open arms.

She was wrong about that. She didn't know if it was the way she left. Or if it was what Ozpin had blamed on her but something had killed the love Tai once had for her.

Hearing that broke her. She only wanted one thing now, she wanted to die. Everything worthing living for was gone now. When Ozpin started sending assassins after she ran away from Beacon she killed them and formed her tribe to fend them off. But that was only because she was afraid of dying. She had lost Qrow and Summer. Qrow to Ozpin and Summer to whichever assassin he had sent after her. And now she had lost Tai.

She no longer feared the thought of dying. That was why she was traveling from bar to bar getting herself piss drunk and then starting a fight the meanest looking guy she could find. If she kept going like this one of them would eventually kill her.

It was at one such bar that she saw a man up on the stage with a piano playing. She had already picked the guy she was gonna fight. He was a lean man who looked a little bit like Qrow. but the man who just walked out onto the stage had her attention. She would let him sing or play the Piano, or whatever he was going to do and then she would have her fight.

The man on the stage had a long duster on and looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. He sat down and cracked his knuckles before starting to play. He started with a simple set of notes before he leaned into the microphone and began to sing.

 **Wrap me in a bolt of lightning**

 **Send me on my way still smiling**

 **Maybe that's the way I should go,**

 **Straight into the mouth of the unknown**

 **I left a spare key on the table**

 **Never really thought I'd be able**

 **To say I merely visit on the weekends**

 **I lost my whole life and a dear friend**

If he didn't have Raven's full attention before he did now. His voice was just gravely enough to be distinct and not so gravely as to be unpleasant. He kept going and Raven kept listening.

 **I 've said it so many times.**

 **I would change my ways, no nevermind**

 **God knows I've tried.**

The tempo of the Piano suddenly speed up as the did the intensity with which he was singing. Raven tried to follow his words but she was interrupted by the feeling of someone grabbing her right shoulder and shaking her.

She turned to remove the head from whoever dared to touch her when she saw Jorge standing behind her in a black suit and tie. "Hello," he said. "Is there an open seat at this table?"

Raven knew better than to sass Jorge. So she simply gestured to one of the chairs at her table and watched him sit down. "Did Tai send you?" she asked. She wanted to know if he was here because he was told she needed to be talked off a ledge or if he was here for something else entirely.

Raven looked him over and waited for his answer. He was well dressed. A little too well dressed. She remembered all of the times that he was told that he needed to arrive at an important meeting or award ceremony in dress clothes by Ozpin. He always arrived in either a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or he didn't even go. He would just send Pius to get the award and leave.

"No, Tai didn't send me here to find you. I am however here to speak with you." Jorge said. He waved over a waitress and ordered a single glass of water. That didn't surprise Raven she had never seen or even heard about Jorge drinking. He had always been okay with his team drinking but he never drank himself. Raven didn't know if he was a violent drunk or if he simply didn't like hangovers but he ever drank.

"I get the feeling that this is supposed to be some kind of intervention," Raven said. "So if Tai didn't send you did Qrow?" Raven knew that her brother would just as soon run a blade through her as hug her. Yet she still had hope that some semblance of love remained between them.

Jorge leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard saying " no, Qrow didn't send me. I am here of my own accord." as he spoke his water arrived and he drank half the glass before he continued. "But I am curious as to why you are here and not with your Bandits."

Raven let out a dry chuckle saying. "I don't really know. I just need to be alone right now." she hoped that he would take the hint and leave. She also hoped that he wouldn't see through her lie.

He leaned back in before speaking. "You haven't acted without knowing why for almost three decades." she could tell he was seeing the deception she tried to weave. "I have seen this before," he said his voice taking a more serious tone. "A warrior who feels like they have nothing to live for going from town to town drinking themselves into a stupor and getting into a fight hoping someone somewhere has the grit needed to kill them."

Raven wondered how he knew what she was doing but then reminded herself that Jorge always seemed to know a lot of things that nobody else did. "And if I am?" she asked. She wanted to have her miserable life come to an end but she was too much of a fighter to do it herself.

"What about it. If I want to drink myself into an early grave then I can," she said as he bottomed out her current beer. She held up her hand to signal for another one and the soon the waitress had brought it to her. She knew that Jorge was still looking at her with that same damned disappointed look he used whenever she would get out of hand.

Raven was pulled from her hungover thinkings by the sound of someone next to her groaning. She looked to her right and saw the man from the stage. Raven then noticed that she was naked and that the man next to her was too.

She leaped from the bed and began to look for her sword. Whoever this man was he needed to die. He had seen too much.

By now he was also on his feet awoken by the commotion. He saw Raven reaching for her sword and waving his hand defensively he said. "Please don't do that"

When she tried to pull her sword free of its scabbard it wouldn't move. She tried again but it still wouldn't move.

"What did you do?" Raven snarled

He didn't respond choosing instead to just hang his head in submission.

Raven looked around the room and her confusion started to fade. She saw a pile of clothes on the floor which explained where their clothes went. Then she saw that man was getting dressed in the clothes that he wore last night.

He tossed her some of her clothes saying. "You may want to get dressed."

She wanted to offer a counter to maintain control of the interaction but she was still too hungover to think of anything. So she dressed herself in her old clothes. Before she noticed something that sent a chill down her spine. She had a golden band on her left ring finger. She looked and the man opposite her had one too.

She began to look around the room for the papers she knew had to be somewhere. She could feel his eyes upon her. He was wondering what she was looking for but he didn't speak. That was good it meant that he was already used to letting her lead. That was good it would make getting rid of him easier.

When she found the stack of papers that she was looking for she heard him speak up. "What are those?" he asked. His concern was clear but Raven also saw a chance to take control of the interaction.

"Nothing that concerns you.' she said as she stuffed the now folded up papers into the left side of her bra. She knew that he would even dream of taking them now. Not even Tai was that brash. Thinking of her almost ex-husband brought Raven's already mildly frustrated mood down even further.

She wanted to kill this fool but a part of her knew that he didn't deserve to die and that killing would only be one way of getting him to leave her alone. She needed to bring him somewhere he could hide for a few months. By then she would be dead and anyone who wanted to go after her would have no reason to go after him.

She started walking around the room before she remembered that she had a map of her safehouses in her tent. That meant that she would have to go back to her tribe. She checked her sword and found that she could now draw her blade.

With a swing of her arm, she opened a portal to the inside of her tent where Vernal would be. With Raven gone Vernal became the de facto leader of the tribe so she would be in Raven's old tent.

"Follow me," she said. Without a word, he fell in line behind her his head still low. They stepped through and were greeted by Vernal standing with one of her chakram-pistols drawn. She was clearly waiting for Raven to do or say something.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here after the way you left." Raven turned to see Ganbrad standing in the entrance to the tent. Raven considered killing him for his tone but she knew that he was right she had left the tribe. And she couldn't expect to just waltz back in without having to earn whatever she was here for.

"I do, but I have come for my things and I brought Payment." She spoke not to Ganbrad but to Vernal. Vernal was the one who had the power here. Ganbrad but just a warrior who also happened to be in love with Vernal. Vernal knew this and also knew that this meant she had a talented warrior who would die for her at a moments notice.

Raven knew better than to turn her back to either of them so she moved to keep them both in front of her. She was waiting for an answer when the man she had brought with her spoke. "Is this the Branwen bandit camp," he asked.

Ganbrad half growled his answer. "It is, what does it matter to you?"

The man simply sighed. He looked like he was about to do something he didn't want to and that set everyone on edge. He raised his right hand and reached across Raven's chest grabbing the left side of her collar with his thumb on the inside. He used his right leg to trip her as he gently set her on the ground.

Raven tried to move but she found herself unable to do so. She could only stare helplessly at the roof of the tent. Raven heard the sound of Ganbrad drawing his sword and then there was a scuffle. She wasn't sure what was happening but she was getting very nervous. She kept trying to get up but to no avail.

She heard the sound of Vernal's chakrams being thrown and she saw one of them flying over her head. She heard Vernal start to say something but then she stopped before there was a cracking sound that Raven recognized as the sound of a neck being broken.

Raven fought to get up but couldn't. She felt fear rushing through her. The last time she was this afraid was when she was caught killing John Mcmurray. She had just killed him when she was ambushed by team JSPR. she was outnumbered four to one by the most dangerous team in recent history.

She was certain that she was dead then. But they let her go. She had been lucky enough to live the last time but this time. The sound of what was most likely Vernal's body falling to the ground made her think that she wouldn't be so lucky this time.

She waited for her death only to see the man she brought here stand over her. "I need you to stay here," he said before he turned and walked out of Raven's line of sight.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked. If he was gonna kill her he was gonna tell her why.

Raven heard him sigh before he said: "I am going to kill every bandit in this camp with the sole exception of you."

Raven was speechless for a moment. Even she wouldn't try to do that. "They outnumber you at least forty to one," she said

"I know" he answered.

"They are all heavily armed." she continued.

"I know, " he said.

Without another word the left the tent. Raven could hear the sounds of battle raging just outside. There was screaming and gunfire with what sounded like intermittent lightning. After a few minutes, there was silence and she felt the weight holding her to the ground lift. She scrambled to her feet to see Ganbrad and Vernal dead. Vernal's head was twisted at an unnatural angle. When Raven looked to Ganbrad she saw that he still had his sword in its scabbard. The way he was clutching his throat lead Raven to conclude that his trachea had been crushed.

She saw the man she brought walking over to her. His eyes looked different as did his posture. Before he had a sad and weak look in his eyes and his posture was low and submissive. Now his eyes shone with confidence and power. His shoulders now lifted and spread to their full height seemed to fill the gap in the tent's door. He stopped about three feet from her and before she could speak his right hand grabbed the front of her left collar before he pulled. His left hand reached into her shirt and grabbed the papers.

Raven was too shocked that he would do that to try and stop him. Not even Tai had ever been that bold and she was married to him!

The man started to read the papers over and after he had finished he looked down as he said. "Dammit you motherfucking dickweasel"

Raven laughed at the way he seemed to shift. He clearly didn't like what it said. "What's the matter?" Raven asked. "Don't like being married to a killer?"

She watched as the man's anger grew. The papers where a marriage certificate. They were married now and nothing could stop that. There was a seal at the bottom of the last page that Raven didn't recognize. It was a heater shield with a cursive T laid over it.

"Do you know what this symbol is?" he asked.

"No," Raven said.

"This is the symbol of the Telmarkian Empire," he said.

Raven had heard about the Telmarkian Empire before. Jorge had once offered her amnesty as well as a place in the Empire. She had turned him down. She didn't want his pity or his protection. She didn't need him. She didn't need anyone.

"Who are you?" Raven asked. She hadn't bothered to read his name on the paper since she really only wanted to see if it had her name on it. As such, she wasn't sure what her last name was.

He chuckled lightly and said. " you may not want to hear that, you sure you want to hear it?" Raven nodded. She was married to him now she may as well learn his name. She wasn't sure of what she was gonna do after that but she was taking this one thing at a time. "My name is Galmaron Telmarvak."

Those five words caused Raven's heart to freeze and her blood to run chill. "Did you just say Telmarvak?" she asked. Her voice was shifting into a growl even though she knew that this man may not be someone with whom she should fuck.

Galmaron's chest puffed out with pride. "Yeah, you did. You gotta problem with that" his voice showed the threat almost as clearly as his posture. He was standing in the Telmarvak signature southpaw stance.

"What happened to the kind little man who I brought here?" Raven asked. She wondered if it was all an act or if there was more than

Galmaron took a deep breath and seemed to shrink slightly. Although Raven knew that was just the magic of having good posture. He took a second breath and apologized. "Sorry about that. When the adrenaline gets going I kinda get carried away." He was looking more and more like the man she had woken up to this morning with each passing moment. He never fully returned to that state but he settled into a mindset that seemed to be a solid middle ground. He wasn't looking for a fight but he wasn't looking like a doormat either.

He held up the papers saying. "Sorry about all of this. Now that your tribe is dead Jorge will probably anull this. Heaven knows you don't want to be married to a drunken old murderer like me."

The small part of Raven that still allowed her good nature to show wanted to ask what he meant. She was easily more guilty than him. Unless he was a true monster she had done much evilier things. And for far worse reasons.

"Do you know where to find him?" she asked.

He paced for a moment and said. "He probably went to Beacon. If he wanted your tribe dead now he is probably moving on Ozpin by now."

Raven was a little confused. She had always wondered if Jorge and Ozpin would go at it but she never thought that she would be in the middle of it. She drew her sword and used it to open a portal to her brother turning to Galmaron she said. "Come along, this is the fastest way to get to Ozpin and by extension Jorge." Raven caught herself wondering if she wanted to see Jorge about annulling this marriage. Sure she just met Galmaron but he seemed like a decent person and worst of all he looked like he needed someone to remind him of that fact.

She shook her head and stepped through. She was met with the sight of her brother sitting at a bar drinking. This wasn't an uncommon sight but something wasn't right. If Ozpin was in trouble then Qrow would normally be sprinting to help him. But instead, he was half passed on a stool.

Qrow turned when he heard Galmaron step through the portal. Raven closed the Portal and stepped closer to her brother. The moment his eyes met hers she knew what had happened. His eyes held their usual drunken shiftiness but once they settled on her they changed.

He reached out and threw his arms around her. "Rae." he half sobbed into her shoulder. It had been so long since her brother had hugged her that at first Raven didn't know what to do. It didn't take long for her old instincts to kick in and she used her right hand to hold the back on his head and her left hand to rub between his shoulder blades. He had been told the truth. The truth about Ozpin, about her, and about Summer.

It was no secret to Raven that Qrow was in love with Summer. So learning that he had been aiding her killer for so many years probably destroyed Qrow's already fragile mental state. Raven could feel her brother falling asleep on her shoulder. She had to lean slightly to help balance Qrow.

Raven wasn't a weak person but her brother was bigger than he looked. His height worked to conceal just how much he weighed. She was about to ask for help when Galmaron stepped in an gently lifted Qrow into a fireman's carry. Raven paid for one of the rooms and Galmaron carried Qrow up the stairs and set him in the bed.

Raven pulled the covers up to proper kept her brother warm. She felt a part of her that she long thought was dead come back to life. It was the feeling of love that she and Qrow used to share. She didn't know it but Qrow had vowed to kill her if he had ever gotten the chance. And now that he knew the truth it was killing him.

Raven leaned down and kissed her sleeping brother's forehead. It was something she did when they were younger and it felt like the thing to do now. Next, she turned to Galmaron and quietly said. "We need to get to Jorge. If he is taking on Ozpin he will need all the help he can get."

When she stopped Galmaron had to stifle a laugh. "You don't get it yet do you?" when Raven shook her head to say no he whispered. "Well, you in the family now so I may as well tell just what my cousin really is."

…

When he was done Raven wanted to tell Galmaron he was lying but the fact that she was actually the current holder of a power that she would have thought unreal before she saw it told her not to doubt such things. She had questions about Jorge. Such as why he chose to come to Remnant when he did. She wanted to ask them but she knew that right now all she could really do was find out why Jorge wanted her to see him.

…

Raven awoke from her sleep to the smell of ham steaks and waffles. Both of which were luxury items for someone who always had to able to pack up and be gone inside of an hours notice. Raven knew that the smell meant Galmaron had woken up first and chose to make breakfast. She sat up from her bed and went about getting dressed. She had abandoned her usual short skirt and armored shirt for a simple knee length skirt and button up blouse. She no longer needed to look like a warlord and instead needed to look more like a teacher. That and she liked the way that Galmaron looked at her when she dressed this way.

She smiled when she thought about her husband. They had met under circumstances that were bizarre, to say the least. But after she had gotten a few weeks to get to know him she found herself oddly attracted to him. He was nothing like Tai was. And that may have been one of the reasons she had fallen for him. Were Tai feigned confidence but really needed reassurance that he had power. Galmaron normally had a relaxed attitude that could be mistaken for submission and also swapped out for a commanding presence in the blink of an eye.

They had both accepted the jobs Jorge offered them. Raven didn't even need to think about it. Galmaron didn't seem to have any allegiance to the students. But he did have an allegiance to Raven which was another thing that worked towards her loving him. He was the definition of loyalty.

It wasn't lost on Raven that he didn't think that he deserved to be loved. He had told her about the things and Orin had done on their home planet. They were monsters consumed by darkness destroying anything in their path. It wasn't until Jorge stepped in that they were stopped. He had since lost his family and it had broken him. She knew that she felt the same way. She had murdered for money and worse. She didn't deserve to be loved the way Galmaron loved her.

In hindsight that was why Jorge had gotten them together. He knew that they needed each other.

Raven would normally hate him for playing matchmaker but this time things were working out so she wasn't going to try and ruin it now. After breakfast Raven and Galmaron made their way to Jorge's office they wanted to let him know when they would have their grade for this quarter in but when they arrived he was nowhere in sight.

There was a note on his desk that read. "Had to deal with a teammate emergency, I have total confidence in you two." there was a smiley face drawn below the note with a cursive JT. Raven was mad that Jorge had just run off but she had to get ready to run the school until he came back. She was going to need to juggle some classes and some needed to be suspended altogether. She turned around to see that Galmaron was already pulling up the schedule for the school on Jorge's computer. She sat down in one of the chairs near the desk got to work. It was going to be a long day.

 _in case it wasn't obvious enough the majority of this chapter takes place as a flashback_


	4. Chapter 4

Yang found herself wandering the desert that seemed to be in Vacuo. She wasn't sure how she came to be here but she could see a fire in the distance so he made her way there. When she arrived she saw a military level hoverbike. It was powered off and had its landing struts down. A blanket was draped over one side of the bike forming a kind of tent.

Yang made her approach from beyond the light of the fire with the bike between her and the inside of the tent. That way her shadow wouldn't give away her position. She looked inside the tent and saw that it was empty. Her confusion only lasted long enough to be broken by the sound of someone tossing and turning. When she followed the sound it lead her to just beyond the light of the fire.

Yang was both shocked and relieved to see Jaune rolling around in his sleep. He had rolled off of his bedroll and was tossing in the dirt. Yang wondered why he wasn't in the tent but then realized that Jaune was probably a little paranoid. He most likely set up the tent to draw the interest of anyone who came looking for him. And to be fair if she didn't hear him she would have assumed that the owner of the bike was off somewhere in the night.

She walked over to Jaune and looked him over for a moment to see if he was armed. It was a good idea since she saw him clutching his rifle close to his chest. Yang knew that she was taking a risk by doing what she was about to do but she had to help him.

She laid down on the ground behind Jaune and wrapped her arms delicately around him. She wanted him to feel her but not think she was trying to hold him down. As she suspected the moment she touched him Jaune's entire body tensed. She waited a minute before slowly slipping her arms under his and pulling his back to her chest. She was trying moving him back towards the bed so she inched back and repeated her pulling motion until they were both on the mat.

Yang settled into her current role as the big spoon and rested her head on the left side of Jaune's neck. She was met with the feeling of growing facial hair. She liked the way it felt so she chose to file that away for later use.

Yang felt Jaune slowly relax in her arms and knew that even if he wasn't awake he knew that she was there. She stayed like that for a little while until Jaune wrapped one of his hands around her own clasped hands.

He was awake but he hadn't said anything. "How did we get here?" Yang asked. She never thought that the boy she meet in a bar fight over a year ago would wind up sleeping on a simple mat in the desert.

Jaune waited a moment probably to think of an answer. Finally, he sighed and said. "I don't want to think about it. I just want to enjoy the moment before I need to wake and need to accept that this is all just a dream."

It broke Yang's heart to hear that Jaune didn't think that this was real. She wanted to show him just how real this was but she knew that no wasn't the time for that. Instead, she held him tighter and gently whispered. "Just wait till the morning, then we see about that dream." Yang lowered her head to fully rest on the side of Jaune's neck and drifted to sleep.

Yang woke up to find her pillow under her head. She felt a wave of soul-crushing depression when she realized that she had only dreamed of last night. Jaune was still off in some unknown corner of remnant tracking down Ozpin's former agents.

Yang felt her eye's start to water, it was a unique kind of pain. One she had never felt before and she never wanted to feel it again. Yang rubbed the tears from her eyes and set about performing her daily tasks. She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she showered and put on her uniform. She had dust chemistry followed by combat class.

She was halfway to dust chemistry when her scroll buzzed with a message from the Admin contact. It said that all dust chemistry classes were temporarily suspended and that all students should attend either a combat class or spend the time at one of the training facilities.

Yang figured that she needed more practice so she headed to the combat classroom. It was the same one that was used back when Ozpin ran Beacon but the ring was made slightly smaller so that there could be more seats.

When she arrived she saw the class that was supposed to be there during this period and a few students from her dust chem class. Where Yang expected to see her mother she instead saw professor Telmarvak. Or at least the male half of that name. Many of his students called him Gail or professor Gail. It was worth noting that his name was Galmaron but most of the students were uncomfortable calling their male teacher Gal so he simply answered to Gail as well.

After the class had begun Galmaron spoke. "You are no doubt wondering why I am here instead of my wife," he gave the students a moment to nod and whisper. "For the time being headmaster Jorge is busy and so my wife is the acting headmaster of Beacon. For the duration of this time, I will be your combat class instructor." Galmaron looked around the room to see who was present before continuing. "Now I know that students here have a habit of wanting to either challenge their teachers or at least asking them to prove that they are capable of teaching their class. Do any of you want to challenge me then?"

If he had asked that question at the start of the year he would have had a line of students that stretched into the hall raising their hands. But the students had come to recognize that everyone Jorge had brought in to teach was more dangerous than even the best students. So there was no one eager to fight someone who shared a last name with the headmaster who killed Ozpin.

With no challenger, he called down two fourth-year students. The fourth and third years had a hard time under the new curriculum. They had been learning how to hunt in Ozpin's world and they only had a year or two to learn how to hunt without his support. They went to the locker rooms and returned with their weapons.

As they took their stances Galmaron stopped them saying. " now trade weapons." the students froze and while they would have grumbled a few months ago they had also seen the improvement that the new training had so they swapped weapons. The following fight was less of a technical match and more of a test of the students' athleticism. Soon the battle was over with the larger student the winner.

"Okay class, what does this tell us?" Galmaron asked.

There was a moment of silence before Yatsuhashi commented. " without the use of their respective skill sets the strongest student was victorious."

He was right of course they had all come to realize that when skill is no longer a factor the strongest fighter almost always wins. It was part of the reason that Jorge had placed such a large focus on the unarmed training of the students.

This is what lead to Galmaron calling Ruby down. Once she was in the training ring Galmaron triggered a target to be lowered from the ceiling. It was meant to be shot in class to demonstrate proper weapon control along with specific techniques and positions. "Hit the target," he said. Ruby started towards the locker room when Galmaron stopped her. " not with your weapon with your hand."

Ruby looked a little confused since it was a shooting target made of non-newtonian solid that would harden upon impact and soften as the force of the round lessened. It was meant to catch any round fired at it. It also meant that the harder you punched it the harder it became. Which was why nobody had ever tried to punch one of them.

She wanted to question him but he had grown to trust the teachers that were brought in so she simply walked over to arms length from the target and just like coach DJ had been teaching her she positioned her left foot ahead of her right and after setting her feet in the correct direction she lifted her hands into her preferred guard. That being a karate style that held her left arm out almost straight and kept her right hand back. Her left palm was open as was her right. She had been taught by coach Rutten how to use her palms to strike so that she could protect her hands.

All at once she angled her left knee and foot away from her centerline and pushed off her back foot to strike the block-shaped target with her right hand. As expected the target held firm and when she pulled her hand back her palm stung slightly.

"I want you to do it again," Galmaron said. "But this time I want you to use your aura to reinforce your hand and then use it to damage the target."

Ruby didn't know if she could do that. She had only met two people who could directly channel their aura into their body. One was Luke but it was his semblance and the other was Ren but he did it only as a defensive measure.

Sensing her concern Galmaron said. " some are able to directly convert aura through their body to energy with their semblance but everyone has the potential to channel it on their own."

Ruby took her stance but this time Galmaron said. " close your eyes," she did she used her left hand to make sure she was still facing the target and aimed her right hand to strike. "Now I want you to reach into yourself and find your darkest memory." Ruby had to think for a moment. Did she really want to tap into her darkest memory she certainly had a lot to choose from? There as the day she realized she would never have a mother. There was the time that she and Yang were nearly killed by a pack of Beowulf while they were out looking for Yang's mom. There was the moment she learned that Pyrrha had died. But of them all, one stood out above the rest. She allowed herself to think of it and she was there again. In the cold dark street of Vale cradling Bud's lifeless body in her arms.

When Ruby tried to open her eyes she couldn't it was like she locked into the memory the sounds of the room had died away and all she could hear was Galmaron. "Good," he said. His voice began to change. It grew darker. More commanding and menacing. " feel the darkness, it is a part of you. You control it. Can you sense it?"

Ruby wanted to open her eyes and run away but it was clear to her that the only way she could do that was if she kept going. She had passed the point of no return and there was no going back. She fought back her tears and tried to focus on the pain. When she did she could feel a swell in her aura.

It started out as a slight warmth but it soon it grew and grew until it was a roaring blaze that was flooding her veins. It scared her and yet she liked it. It felt powerful. "Yes," Galmaron said his very voice goading her on. "Your pain is your weapon it serves you." with each word he became more and more forceful until his own anger and power seemed to drown out even her visions of Bud. all she could feel was his power and her own power.

"Feel the power flood your body, force it through your feet to your hips and stab it into the heart of the target." Galmaron roared. Ruby tried but she couldn't she had never used anything like this before and even though the power she felt seemed to be amazing she was scared of it as well.

"DO IT," she heard Galmaron yell. Again she hesitated. She wanted this to end but she could do this. It felt wrong to use something so dark. "NOW!" he screamed.

Just Ruby was getting ready to give in to her fear and lash out she was ripped from the darkness and found herself falling to her knees in tears. In an instant, Yang was there wrapping her arms around her as a different voice now thundered through the room.

"PROFESSOR TELMARVAK!" Ruby looked to see Professor Port standing in the doorway of the classroom his short but wide frame filling the doorway. His arms were crossed and his face stern. It was clear to the students that he was furious. When she spoke again his voice seemed to carry relief through Ruby. Freeing her of all the darkness she had felt a second earlier. "Students I believe it is time for you to leave the room. Report to your dorms and await further instructions."

Without a word, every student shuffled out of the room Yang having to help Ruby who still had a hard time doing anything but falling to the ground and crying. Leaving only the portly Professor and Galmaron in the room. Once all of the students had left Port closed the door. With all of them outside the students started walking for their dorms. Some walked faster than others but nobody ran. They were still a little confused as to what was going on.

When they were back in their room Ruby who was still being half carried by Yang asked with a shaky voice. " what happened?"

"I don't know," Yang answered. " you went from standing in front of the target with your eyes closed to falling to your knees and balling in less than two seconds."

"Two seconds?" Ruby asked." it felt so much longer than that." she said.

"What felt longer?" Weiss asked.

Ruby looked at her partner and with tears in her eyes, she explained what she felt and heard. By the end of it, she determined that whatever happened, happened inside of her mind. Somehow Galmaron had managed to get into her head. She wasn't certain what he was doing to her mind but she didn't tell anybody how she felt like he was trying to force her into lashing out.

She was glad that professor Port arrived when he did. Ruby didn't know what would have happened if she had struck when she was told to but she was confident that it would have been bad.

They sat in silence for a time. Nobody really knew what they should say or do. They had been told to wait for further instructions so that was what they would do.

Yang to this chance to read some more of Jaune's letters. She found the one that was next in line and opened it up.

 _Dear Yang,_

 _I am sorry that I haven't been writing for a few weeks. I was on an operation that required me to keep my guard up at all times. One of Ozpin's assassins was set up with his partner hiding in a cabin in the middle of the desert. When I got there the plan was to take them out and have a bullhead transport them out._

 _That didn't go too well. After I breached the man was reaching for a knife. Needless to say, he left that cabin as a corpse. But his partner, well she surrendered. To be honest I kinda wanted her to try and go for a weapon since don't like having to secure a trained assassin._

 _But she didn't give me a reason to kill her so I cuffed her and called the bullhead to come to get them. Unfortunately, a sandstorm hit before it could get it to us. It was a big one and that meant that we were stuck in that cabin until it cleared._

 _I have never had someone come as close to getting killed as she did during those three days. She started out trying to be friendly but after about a day she tried coming onto me. Maybe she thought that she could stoke my teenage hormones into letting her go…._

 _She was wrong. By the fourth night, I got so tired of it that I shot her with one of the tranq rounds Jorge gave me. It may not have been the best use of one but it shut her the Hell up until the Bullhead finally arrived. I gave the pilot a syringe filled with the reversal agent. From there I got back on my bike and rode off to find the nearest ranger station._

 _We have been setting up stations in the wilds of Vacuo, Mistral, and Atlas to serve as safe houses for other rangers. The way you find one is covered in Ranger training. I am proud to say that I wrote that part of the training._

 _I am writing this from that safehouse. I don't have much more to say so I guess that I will just say goodbye for now._

Yang found herself smiling at the news that Jaune was safe. She was worried about him after her dream. She still wanted to have him brought back to Beacon but she knew that he was too afraid of hurting them to do that.

If she was being honest it only made her love him more. He was so selfless as to make his own friends hate him to protect them. True she still wanted to knock out one or two of his teeth for the way he left but she could wait to do that.

She found that next and final letter in the stack. The seal on it was the same as all the others. It was a wax seal with that looked to be pressed with the back of what Yang suspected was a spent shotgun shell. But unlike the others, this seal looked rushed and it hadn't been allowed to set before it was placed in a pocket or bag.

 _Dear yang,_

 _I don't know if you'll ever read this but if you do I am sorry. If you do end up getting this it most likely means that I am dead._

Yang needed to stop reading as she brought her hand to her mouth. Was this true? Could Jaune have died and Jorge not find out about it. She took a deep breath and read on.

 _About a week before I wrote this I got word of the first death of a Ranger. I was sent to investigate and what I found wasn't good. If you get this I need to you to give this letter to Jorge. I only have time to write one of these so I am choosing to write it to you. When I started digging into the death I found out that the ranger was tracking on of Ozpin's former allies. A particularly nasty piece of work named Su-yat-dun. He had killed many people for Ozpin. The only problem was that I had met this ranger before and they should have been able to at least get a piece of Su._

The was a break in the writing where it looked like Jaune walked away from the desk and came back. This time there was a drop of blood next to what he wrote.

 _I just had an unwanted visitor, I have to hurry they'll be here soon. It seems that the remaining agents of Ozpin figure out what was happening and have banded together. They set a trap for the first ranger and now then they set one for me. Yang if you are reading this I am sorry. You were nothing but a kind to me and I repaid it that with betrayal. I know that you will never understand or agree with my reasons but I want you to know that I am doing this to protect you and the rest of the team. I just noticed the blood don't worry it isn't mine._

 _I can hear them getting out of their cars. I have to go. I hope nothing but the best for you._

At the bottom of the page, there was cursive J that was clearly meant to be a rushed signature.

Yang didn't know when she started to cry but she was crying now. Ruby had noticed and came over to see what was wrong. When she got no response she read the first few sentences of the letter and understood. She hugged her sister they both started to cry.

This had caught the attention of both Weiss and Blake who walked over and read the letter as well. Weiss wasn't too broken up about Jaune dying but she was much more worried about Yang so she still sat next to Yang and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. No one was certain when but Ruby had since migrated to Yang's lap where she sat clinging to Yang like a Koala. Wright now they both needed to comfort the other. So that was what they were doing. Blake took up the space that Ruby used to be in and also wrapped an arm over her partner. They sat like that for almost twenty minutes before there was a knock at the door.

Weiss being the most stable of them all went over and answered it to see Jorge standing outside with Galmaron behind him. Galmaron looked like a kicked puppy and Weiss didn't mind it one bit. Instead, she opened the door and let the headmaster and the man following him in.

Once inside both men were confused and slightly concerned with what they saw. Yang handed Jorge the letter and after a moment Jorge handed it back to her and said. "Good news he's alive."

At first, Yang didn't believe him. It seemed too absurd that Jaune could have made it out. He may have been selfless but Jaune wasn't stupid. If he didn't like his odds it was for a good reason.

Jorge seemed to sense her disbelief so he motioned for her to follow him and left the room. Galmaron almost left too before he stopped turned around and walked over to where Ruby was sitting. She had stopped crying but her face was still bright red.

He took a knee and said. " what I did today was a mistake, a large one. And I am the only one to blame for it. I tried to force you into something you weren't ready for and I am sorry that I tried. I have no right to ask for your forgiveness so I won't. But what I will do is ask that give a second chance to prove myself. To you and to all of your classmates."

With his part said he stood and walked out. When he reached the door Ruby spoke. "Professor," she said causing him to stop and turn to face her. "Apology accepted, and for what it's worth I do forgive you."

I small smile started to spread over Galmarons face as he left the room and closed the door.

…

Yang and Jorge walked in silence to his office where they were now. Jorge was at his computer digging through a file that he had before he sent an email. Just after he sent it Yang's scroll buzzed. She went to check it see an email from Jorge. When she opened it Jorge said. " I know Jaune is alive because that is the video of him killing the last of Ozpin's agents. When you are ready you can watch it yourself and see. But I am warning you it's rough. Jaune kills eight people in about three minutes."

Yang silently nodded and left the room she went to her usual spot in the library plugged her headphones in and started the video. She needed to see him alive.


	5. Chapter 5

Jaune stood with his back to a wall and a corner to his left. He held his rifle in a right-handed grip. Around the corner, there was a man in a black trenchcoat. He had an ax in his hands and was looking around the room for something or someone.

Yang watched as Jaune spun around the corner and performed a swift muzzle strike to the man's throat. It would have killed any non-aura enhanced person but for this man, it simply kept him from speaking.

The man swung his ax through the pain at Jaune who stepped in close and suffocated the strike taking all of the force on the handle and not the blade. Jaune stuffed the muzzle of his gun in the man's solar plexus and after switching the weapon to fully automatic he held the trigger down. The first six rounds were stopped by his aura but the next three tore a hole through his chest killing him instantly.

Jaune let his body slid down the wall and when he heard footsteps approaching he jumped up and grabbed an exposed water pipe. He brought his legs up and wrapped them around the pipe hiding him from view.

A woman came in wearing a tight fitting helmet. She was in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket. there was a shotgun in her hands as she checked on the man Jaune just killed. Yang watched as Jaune let go with his hands and lowered his upper body down behind her. He quickly wrapped a wire around her neck. Yang couldn't see it but from what she could see she figured that it was a piano wire noose. This was confirmed when Jaune tightened it with one hand and the other one passed the long wire over the pipe. Once that was done Jaune grabbed the handle on the other end and let go with his legs.

The act pulled the woman up on the very tips of her toes as she fought with the wire around her neck. Jaune then placed his left foot on the wire and stepped down lifting the woman almost three feet off the ground. Jaune then tied the end of the wire to the dead man's leg the weight being more than enough to suspend the woman. Her struggling soon stopped and it was clear to Yang that she was dead.

Jaune then ran jumped behind a desk that was overturned in the room. Just as a third and fourth person came running in. this time Jaune tossed a shining thunder flashbang over the desk and after it had gone off he jumped the desk and reloaded his rifle. One of the men was a Faunus so the flashbang hit him particularly hard. Jaune mag-dumped him killing him too.

Instead of trying to reload and face the second Jaune just holstered his gun and drew two knives. A standard combat knife in his right hand and a karambit in his left. The second man had recovered his sight and attacked Jaune with his sword. Jaune parried a swipe with his arm trusting his aura and armor. It still must have hurt but Jaune made the most of it by stabbing the point of his combat knife in an orthodox grip at the man's neck.

The blade didn't draw blood but the strike staggered the man all the same. Jaune followed up by stepping to the man's left which when combined with the man's own right turn gave Jaune the man's back. Jaune stomped the back of the man's right knee as he looped his left arm over the man's neck and pulled him back. While he was doing this Jaune dropped to his right knee resting the man's back on his left knee.

While the man was fighting to get Jaune's arm away from his neck Jaune began to stab the combat knife now in an icepick grip into the man's chest over and over until it finally broke through his aura. Once that was done Jaune used the combat knife as a handle to hold the man's body in place as his left arm drew back using the sharped spine of the blade to slice the man's throat.

Jaune dropped the man's body as a fourth person entered the room. This one was a man with a spear that he then thrust out at Jaune. The tip punched through Jaune's vest and took a large portion of his aura while Jaune was still getting back to his feet. When the person tried to thrust again Jaune slipped the attack and stepped inside the range of the spear.

The person who was wearing an open denim jacket tried to swing the shaft of the spear at Jaune but he ducked under it and came up between the man's chest and his spear. Jaune wrapped his left arm around the man's back and grabbed the man's belt on his left side. Jaune brought his hips in front of the man's and in a quick twisting motion performed a move that Yang had come to know as an O-Goshi or hip toss. The man landed on his back with his head near Jaune who wasted no time in quickly stomping on the man's head.

Jaune had landed three good shots when a large man came in from the side and tackled Jaune knocking his knives away. This man was dressed similarly to the man Jaune was just fighting implying that they were partners. The larger man was fighting for a double leg takedown that Jaune gave him in exchange for grabbing the man's left wrist and threading his own left arm over the man's tricep and locking it on Jaune's own right wrist. This formed a lock that Yang had come to know as Ude-Garami or a Kimura lock.

Jaune cranked on the man's shoulder so hard that Jaune broke his aura in a few seconds. Once Jaune had done that the first man was getting back to his feet so Jaune turned to his left side and sat his hips out in a shrimping manner. This allowed him to reach the gun he had on the small of his back. Once it was in his hand Jaune smoothly shot the larger man in the head and then put three round in the first man's chest. Killing them both.

Jaune reloaded his back up pistol and returned it to his holster. Jaune looked to his right just in time to be knocked off his feet by an explosion that Yang soon saw this was because a sixth man who just arrived had a grenade launcher.

Jaune answered by taking cover behind the body of the large man just long enough to draw his rifle. Then he sprung back to his feet and after taking a second shot from the grenade launcher he returned fire this time staying on his feet have prepared for the blast. The fire Jaune returned knocked the grenade launcher form the man's hand before Jaune lunged at him performing a textbook teep or spartan kick knocking the man back several feet.

Having created more space than he gave up Jaune raised his rifle and started to fire. The man tried to rush Jaune but his aura gave out just as he reached him. They started fighting for the gun with the man forcing the muzzle down. Which suited Jaune just fine since he simple drove his right knee into the man's left hip to back him up and then blasted a shot through both of his legs. The man tumbled to the ground in pain he didn't have time to cry out as once he hit the ground fully Jaune fired a round through his head.

Jaune reloaded his rifle once more as the last two of Ozpin's agents stormed the room. The first one through triggered a shotgun rigged to a wire that Jaune set up the blast knocked them off of their feet and allowed Jaune a few moments to focus on the second person.

Jaune fired a round into the man's left knee which didn't break his aura but did knock him off balance. This opened up Jaune to holster his rifle and while standing in front of him and then to grab the right side of the man's face with his right and the man's left shoulder with his right hand. Jaune then pushed the on the man's jaw forcing his head to turn to the left and he pulled the man's body to his right.

The violent twisting motion burned through the man's aura and then broke his neck. While his body was still falling the first man attacked with his dagger. The blade slashed across Jaune's side and for the first time in this battle drew blood.

Emboldened by this he lunged forward once more and tried to stab at Jaune's chest. Jaune parried the stab to his left seizing the man's wrist as he dropped under and hooked his left arm under the man's right leg. Then in a motion similar to what James called a Kata Guruma and what coach DC called a fireman's throw, Jaune tossed the man into the air and took his back hooking both of his legs inside of the man's. Then the hand fighting began. Jaune was able to get the man to throw away the dagger but that allowed Jaune to snake his left arm under the man's chin and lock in what James called Hadaka Jime or rear naked choke. After ten seconds of thrashing, the man went limp and Jaune removed his left leg from around the man's hip to replace it over the man's shoulder with his lower leg laying on the man's chest. Jaune then placed his right hand on the man's ear and cupped the man's chin with his left. And in a slow and deliberate motion broke the man's neck.

Jaune slowly stood to his feet and looked around. He saw all the bodies and after taking a moment to let it all sink in he checked his side and shuffled off the camera. The video ended a few seconds after and Yang was left thinking about how awesome that was. It slightly concerned her that she just used awesome to describe a video where eight people were killed in less than three minutes. Then she remembered that she was Huntress and in her line of work she was going to have to kill people. That put it into perspective why she was actually mildly turned on by watching Jaune kill eight trained killers and then walking away with a moderately annoyed expression. It meant that he was the most dangerous man in the room and to a warrior like her that was a big deal.

Yang pushed those thoughts from her mind. She still missed him but she was glad he was alive. And she also needed to talk to James. She made her way to the training room when she received a text on her scroll. It was from Admin and it said that classes today had been canceled due to scheduling errors. Yang smiled as that meant she didn't need to sit through another one of Port's lectures that always became anecdotes of his youth. Once he even spoke of a time that he rescued a beautiful queen from a castle guarded by Grimm.

Normally it was difficult to tell what was fact and what was hyperbole but that one was definitely hyperbole. That being said Yang also knew that with classes being canceled there would be more people in the training wing.

When she arrived she was proven right as the mats were all in use. Every coach was busy so she made her way to the Judo room where she saw James demonstrating a move called a ashi-sankaku-garami or more commonly an omoplata. Once he was done he told the students there to start practicing the move.

When he saw Yang he walked over and greeted her saying. "Miss. Xiao Long, I am glad you chose to stop by." he had his trademark smile on his face. Yang knew his smile wouldn't help with the rumors that they were dating but she didn't really care he was a good guy and he didn't have any romantic intentions towards her.

Yang said, " I had to the day off so I thought I could come down and learn something." James smiled and motioned for her to follow him to a part of the mat that was empty. Once they had made it there James calmly took the top half of his gi off and tossed it onto one of the benches. Without a word he took his fighting stance and waited for Yang to attack.

His silence told Yang that he had entered into his fighting mindset. It also told Yang that the odds of her winning had just gone down drastically. She moved forward and reached out with her right hand to grab at the back of James' neck. Once she was close James dropped to his knees and shot in for a takedown. He managed to get a firm grip on the back of Yang's thighs and after he pushed forward and exploded up using his whole body he turned Yang sideways in the air by her legs and gently set her down on the mat.

Yang knew James' was just goofing around when she felt him set her down. If he had been trying to genuinely fight with her he could have slammed her into the mat with enough force to either knock the air out of her or maybe even break a rib if her aura was broken.

When James transitioned from side control to mount Yang managed to counter and recover half guard. This was a vast improvement over what she used to be able to do. She was also working on her hand fighting which she was using to keep James from getting a hold on one of her arms.

Yang ended up shrimping to her right side in order to keep James from pushing her flat and locking one of her arms. While she was turned James lifted his free leg and swung it over locking in a kneebar. Yang tried to fight it but her better judgment took over and she tapped out.

James let go of her leg and rolled back to a kneeling position with a smile on his face before saying. "What's the matter, has your common sense finally let you start tapping out. Maybe next time I catch you in a choke you won't end up going to sleep."

Yang laughed but she was still worried about what the rest of the class may think. There were regulars here that spent most of their free time here. And since they had never seen these mysterious fights but James' just talked about them. The rumors would get worse now. But Yang wouldn't let that bother her.

"You up for another round?" Yang asked.

James' looked contemplative for a moment before he answered saying. " I think it's time you fight someone else." holding his hand out he said "Coco come here, please. I would like you to fight with Yang"

The leader of team CVFY was in her third year. She was also one of the more advanced hand to hand students. There were rumors she was even a bouncer at a local bar on the weekends.

Coco bowed to her current partner and walked over asking. "Ground fighting, stand up, or full contact?"

James answered her saying. "Full contact, I want you to fight until one of you scores an ippon."

Yang knew what the rules for this kind of fight were. They would start on their feet and attempt to throw one another. A clean throw would be an Ippon and as such an instant victory. If they ended up on the ground for anything but an instant victory then they would be awarded a point value ranging from a quarter point or koka as a small advantage, a yuko being an overall advantage, a waza-ari being a half point and being worth more than any number of yukos or kokas. And finally, an Ippon which could be scored on the ground by either pinning your opponent for thirty seconds or making them submit to either an arm lock or choke hold.

Since they were fighting for an Ippon then there was no need to go for anything other than a perfect throw unless you wanted to win on the ground. Something Yang didn't want to do. As such she would try to force an Ippon with a throw.

She held no illusions of being able to do this since Coco was a much more experienced fighter and would most likely destroy her but she was used to that by now. She lowered her hips and extended her hands to signal she was ready to start. Coco did the same and James held his arm between them shouting "Hajime" and pulling his arm from between them starting the match.

Coco came in aggressive trying to secure an underhook on Yang's left side. Yang could have tried to fight it but instead, she decided to counter.

Yang locked in a tight overhook on Coco's right arm and used her left hand to grab the back of Coco's neck.

Coco tried to push Yang with her under hook as she attempted to sweep Yang's right foot. Yang managed to hop over the attack and regain her balance using Coco's need to reset her footing as an opening. Yang pulled forward and down on Coco's head. At the same time, she turned her right foot to face the same direction as Coco's and shifted her right hand from Coco's head to the back of Coco's left armpit.

Yang then switched her hips to make her whole body face the same way as Coco. then she used her left leg to sweep back into Coco's hips. As a result, Coco was thrown with a strong Harai- Goshi style hip toss.

Coco landed with a loud thud. It was clearly an Ippon and the whole room stopped what it had been doing and turned to see. Yang didn't know it but Coco had never been thrown by anybody but James. She was considered unbeatable.

"Again," James said as he pointed to the ground. "This time from your knees. Ground fighting only."

Coco and Yang set up on their knees facing each other. James held his hand out and just like last time he yelled "HAJIME" and the fight was on.

This time Coco was being careful she smoothly slid forward. Only taking as much weight off of her knees as she needed to allow for unabeited travel. Yang was having a hard time following her so instead of waiting Yang chose to attack. She reached forward and grabbed a lapel.

Once Coco felt Yang grab her lapel she pulled guard locking Yang between her knees and crossing her ankles. This was a highly advantageous position for Coco as she could attack with many sweeps and submissions and Yang had a relatively low number of options she could counter with.

Yang felt Coco tighten her legs and get defensive. A few months ago Yang would have gone crazy trying to escape but now that she had spent time with James she knew that Coco wanted her to waste time and energy working to escape in order to make getting a submission easier.

Instead, Yang chose to attack with a rare choke known as Sode-Guruma-Jime or an Ezekiel choke. Yang lowered her chest as far down and forward as she could to keep Coco from attacking with a triangle choke or armbar. Yang also slightly spread her knees and lowered her weight with her feet turned inward with the soles facing up. This made her hard to sweep.

Yang proceeded to wrap her right arm around the back of Coco's neck and grabbed the cuff of her left sleeve with her right hand. She quickly reached her left and over and grabbed her right sleeve and use the grips to make a scissoring motion crushing Coco's neck and subsequently throat.

It was clear to Yang that Coco had no idea what a Sode-Guruma-Jime was since she didn't even try to defend it. Instead, she kept trying to sweep Yang. eventually, Yang let Coco sweep her into full mount bottom. Normally this position was where Yang would lose from but the Sode-Guruma-Jime that she had was effective even from full mount bottom.

Soon Coco was having a hard time breathing and she frantically tapped out on Yang's side. Yang released the choke and after Coco rolled off Yang sat up.

They were both rather confused by the fact that Yang as winning. After all, she should have been getting her ass kicked by Coco. so why wasn't she? The more that she thought on it the more sense it made. Yang had been training one on one with James. She would get better at a much faster rate than the other students. And if she was only fighting with James who she knew was better than her then that would explain why she was fighting so well now. She didn't know that she was getting better because James was still considerably farther along in his training than her.

James dismissed Coco and turned to Yang saying. " I won't be training tonight but if you want to stop by you are more than welcome to do so."

Yang made a fact to think about that and headed out. She was tired and needed to cool off.

Meanwhile on earth

Dan Henderson was just parked in his driveway when his phone buzzed with a message. He pulled it out and saw a video. It was drone footage one of the kids he trained. The student was moving through a fortified structure and shooting enemies as they appeared. After he rounded one corner he was faced with two threats he shot one man but then his gun either ran out of ammo or jammed because he slipped it around his shoulder and went into a fighting stance.

Hendo watched with a grin on his face as the boy tucked his chin and took two shuffling steps forward before he threw an overhand right that almost turned the second man's helmet completely around. There was only a single two-word message attached. _hH-bomb_

Daniel Cormier finished putting his pants back on after he had changed for the end of the day when his phone buzzed. The video he had just gotten showed a boy he had trained performing a high crotch slam to what looked like a giant bear from Hell. when he closed the video he saw _DChcs_ which he knew stood for Daniel Cormier high crotch slam. It was a throw he was famous for doing.

Alexey Oleynik checked his phone when he got a video of one of the girls he trained. She was pinned beneath what looked like a gorilla on bath salts; a tear fell from his eye as he watched her put the Gorilla in an Ezekiel choke. He was the only man to ever use that choke in the UFC and now someone he had taught was using it too.

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza was making dinner one night when his phone buzzed and when he checked the message it was a video with the words _Gator Choke_ the video was of a student he had once had named Gator.

Jacare knew that Gator had a weird skin condition that made him look and feel very scaley which lead to his nickname and when he saw Gator attack a sentry and drag him into the water using the technique that Jacare called the Gator choke. That being a combo of the wrestling Gator roll and the BJJ Anaconda choke. He laughed as he recognized the joke that he had taught Gator how to Gator choke someone. The joke being that Ronaldo's own nickname of "Jacare" meant alligator in his native tongue.

Cheal had just finished his podcast for the day when he got a text of video with the words _you made this monster_ attached. The video was drone footage of a man who was using a machine gun to pin down a group of citizens.

Suddenly a student that Chael had trained attacked the man from behind throwing him to the ground and choke him to death before he got to his feet and after a rallying speech lead them in a charge against even more men.

Chael knew what the message that he had gotten. When he had started with the boy he was nervous and unable to make a confident move without his gun. Chael didn't so much give him confidence as much as he had shown the boy that it was already there and it was showing.

Jorge sat back with a grin after he had sent all of the coaches videos of their students using the skills they had been given to fight evil. Jorge was getting ready to head to his bed for the night when he got an alert that another one of Jaune's letter's had arrived.


	6. Chapter 6

**sorry this took soo long, things have been a little busy**

Yang had stepped out of the shower in her dorm and set about drying off and getting dressed. It didn't occur to her that there was someone else in the room until she had already dropped her towel.

She heard someone clear their throat and she turned to see James standing with his back to her. Yang Scrambled for her clothes. Once she was covered she said. " I'm good, what brings you here?"

James slowly turned around like he was nervous about what he was about to see. When he was fully turned Yang could tell by the blush on his face that he had seen everything she had. "So…" he said trying to think of what he should say.

"James, why are you here?" Yang asked. She knew that he didn't come here just in the off chance that he would see her naked.

James seemed to remember why he had come to the room. "Oh, right. I am here to let you know that one of your teammates is in the infirmary. She picked a fight with a coach and she got her ass handed to her."

Yang was worried about whichever one of her teammate but she also knew that a coach wasn't likely to severely injure them. "Who was it?" She asked.

James thought for a second and said. " I don't know her name but she is a tiny red person."

"Who did Ruby pick a fight with?" Yang asked. She was worried about her sister she didn't know what happened but it didn't seem like Ruby to do that.

"Uhm, that would be me," he said.

Yang may have been worried before but now she was angry. "You did WHAT to my sister!" she demanded. Yang didn't even know that her hair was lighting up as she started towards James.

James started to back up nervously saying. "Yang, let me explain." he never got the chance to since Yang cut him off by raising her hands and throwing a three-punch combo consisting of a left jab right hook and left uppercut.

James pulled back from the jab and ducked fast under the hook. Yang turned her left foot over and changed the uppercut into an uppercut to the body. It landed clean and lifted James off of the ground. James landed on his stomach but he managed to scramble and get a hold of Yang's left leg and drive into a low single.

Yang kicked James in the face as soon as her back hit the ground and cot to her knee before she moved to secure a position that coach DC had called referees position were she kneeled just to the left of James who was also on his hands and knees as she reached her right hand around James' side and used her left hand to secure James' left wrist.

Before she could get her grip on James' left hand he managed to reverse position by exploding out to his right and quickly rotating around to secure referees position on Yang. he would have had a good set up for him to use his grappling but Yang's hair was on fire and that ended up setting his shirt on fire.

James staggered away trying to put the fires out. Yang used this opening to switch to a southpaw stance and fire off a powerful left knee to James's side. She followed up by blasting James with a fast one, two combo from her southpaw stance. James blocked the right jab and manage to survive the left cross by taking it partially on his right forearm. Even though he did that the blow still glanced through and landed on his chin. James was staggered once more before he slumped to the ground.

Yang was about to kick him in the side when she saw that James was shelling up and guarding himself with his knees and arms. The anger in her died in an instant when she saw that he had blood pooling from his mouth.

Yang felt a gut-wrenching amount of guilt as she realized that James didn't have his aura unlocked. She dashed over to where he was laying and began to look him over for any more obvious injuries. Seeing none she gently picked him up and rushed him to the infirmary.

When she arrived she was meet by one of the doctors who took one look at James and asked. "What the Hell happened to him he looks like he's been beaten by a baseball bat."

Yang hesitated to answer but the look on her face told the doctor everything that he needed to know. "Follow me." the doctor said. He lead Yang to a room and once he had opened the door he continued " get him on the bed."

Yang listened and after she had set him down the doctor went to work on him. He used a machine the Yang couldn't identify to scan James. After he was done he breathed a sigh of relief. "He'll live. He has minor internal bleeding but I'll give him a shot of vitamin K and wait. I'm gonna get him some sterile bandages. Luckily for him, he should be fine."

With that said the doctor left the room and headed back to another room. A moment later a nurse came in and gave James a shot before leaving the room. Yang was silent in one of the chairs in the room. She had just attacked someone she considered her friend. She had put a decent person in the hospital.

Yang felt a hand on her shoulder and when she turned to look she Ruby standing there. Suddenly Yang remembered why she had attacked James. She looked Ruby over and saw that she was fine. "What happened to you James said that were in the infirmary?"

Ruby had a nervous face as she said. " I may have attacked him and he may have choked me out."

Now Yang felt even worse. James had protected himself and did so in the least painful way he could and she had hurt him for it. Ruby left after a few minutes letting Yang have a moment to think.

Yang's thoughts were interrupted by a small voice from the door. When she turned Yang saw Walt the little Faunus boy that Jaune rescued back when Suzanna and Pyrrha died. He had a small tray that held food. He had taken to working with the infirmary staff until something could be worked out on a more permanent level.

" Hello, miss. Are you here to see this person?" he asked as he walked over and set the food down on the desk next to his room.

"Yes, I am Walt. how are you doing buddy?" Yang asked eager to change the subject.

Walt finally recognized her and his whole face brighten up as he ran over to hug her. He almost bumped into the hospital bed but thankfully he avoided it inches. He threw himself into her arms and held on a tightly as he could.

Yang managed to easily haul the small child up into her lap and after a few seconds, he leaned back and asked. "Where is Jaune? I haven't seen him in a LONG time." after he finished his eyes grew worried .

"is he hurt?" Walt asked his voice showed just as much concern as his voice. Yang wanted to help him settle down but she didn't know how to answer him.

Should she tell him that the last time she saw Jaune he was killing several people in a violent yet efficeint way. "He is out on a big mission right now, I don't know when he is coming back." she said. That seemed to placate Walt's fears

Yang looked at Walt and saw that he was wearing a gold star. When she looked closer she saw that it was Jaune's badge from Durant. Yang had no idea when Jaune gave it to Walt but somehow or another it had made it's way to the boy.

Said boy was wearing it with pride. A way to remember the man who saved him from certain death. Yang knew that Jaune would approve of it. Walt was also wearing a outfit that along with looking cute was well fitting which made sense since Walt was being taken care of in large part by Coco.

The leader of team CFVY had taken over the role of temporary caregiver of the young boy and if what Yang had heard was true then she was even considering working for full custody soon. But then again the same people where saying that she was dating someone that nobody had ever seen.

Yang felt Walt let go of her so she set him down and watched as he smiled and said. " I need to get back to my room, if i'm late then Velvet gets worried." and then he sprinted away showing the kinds of energy that only children and Ruby where known to have.

Yang went back to her thoughts. Had she been so clouded by anger that she forgot that James' was her friend. And if that was the case then what would happen when someone who she didn't like incurred her wrath.

Yang had always known that she needed to control her anger better. She wasn't sure how but before she could keep thinking about what to do she heart James start to move. He had passed out shortly after Yang stopped beating him and this was the first time he showed signs of full consciousness.

When he opened his eyes looked around he was more than a little confused. When his eyes meet Yang's a looked of fear flashed in them before that same fear seemed to pass.

Yang felt her heart sink when she saw that for a moment her friend was afraid of her. Yang guilt eased when James spoke. " I am gonna need a hand before the end of the day."

Yang raised her eyebrow at him wonder what he was talking about. "I am leaving this hospital soon. But the doctor won't like that so I am going to need you to either help me move out or distract the staff."

Yang wasn't sure if she should help him escape but she had put him in the hospital so she didn't really have much choice. "What do you need?" she asked.

James smiled as he said. " I need you to help me move around. I am still a little banged up so I'm not gonna move as fast as normal."

Yang nodded and peeked out of the doorway and looked for the Doctor. Once she was sure that he wasn't nearby she turned around to tell James that the coast was clear only to find him standing on his feet looking at her waiting for her signal.

Yang motioned for him to follow her as she stepped out into the hallway. She felt James place his right hand on her left shoulder as a way for them to maintain contact without using words. They moved in relative silence going from corner to corner. They had almost made it out when a first-year who was acting as an orderly rounded the corner and started in their direction.

If he found out that James was supposed to be in a bed and was instead leaving then things would get complicated. There was nowhere nearby and soon Yang was panicking.

"Do you know him?" James asked quietly. When Yang nodded no James seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before he stopped to listen the footsteps were almost around the corner it was now or never. "Sorry about this," he said as he used his right hand to gently grab the back of her neck and his left hand to shove her into the wall before he buried his face in her hair near the side her neck.

At first, Yang thought that he was attacking her but she just as fast realized what he was doing. The first year rounded the corner and stopped as soon as he saw the two of them apparently making out in one of the hallways.

James pretended to not notice the boy at first before he stopped what he was doing and turned to face him growling as he said. "Do you mind, we're kinda in the middle of something."

The boy who was already awkward having found the two of them now felt afraid of what seemed to be a older student would do to him. He stepped back and quickly and silently went to walk away.

James reached out and gripped the back of the boy's neck with his hand. Now Yang was worried. If the student even tried to do anything then James had no way of stoppin him. The sucess of this little ploy was completely relieant on this student being so intimidated by James that he just stood there and let James do whatever he wanted.

Which shockingly he did. The boy froze in place as James leaned in close and whispered something into his ear. Yang couldn't hear him but the way that the boy's eyes were growing told her that it was scaring him. After James stopped speaking he let go of the student and said. " now then, why don't you just go on your way and we never have to talk to each other again."

The student who looked to be a few seconds away from tears nodded and scurried off down the hallway. Yang raised an eyebrow asking. "What did you say to him?"

James smiled and as he limped for the door he said. " I told him that if he talked about what he just saw I was gonna hunt him down and give him a vasectomy… while he was still awake."

Yang had a hard time not laughing at that. " but he has his aura and you don't"

James' smile spread even wider. " I know that and you know that but he had no idea that I don't have my aura."

Yang caught up to the limping man and slip her left shoulder under his right so that she could help him move a little faster. They managed to sneak out of the infirmary wing with relative ease with the exception of having to duck under a desk when a doctor made their rounds. That also told them to hurry up since that doctor would most likely notice that James was gone. Once they had escaped James lead them to the hand to hand wing and then to the Judo room.

James quickly made his way across the dojo and pushed a mid-sized couch that was one a set of low friction pads. Once the couch was where he wanted it he pulled the pads out from under the couch with only minor problems.

Yang wanted to help him but she knew that if he needed it he would have asked. James then also pulled out a small projector on a stool. He set them both to face a wall and dragged down a screen and turned on the projector.

Yang watched him do a little more set up before he parked himself on the couch and linked his scroll to the projector. Yang was wondering what he was doing for a few seconds until she saw a octagon appear on the screen.

"The lightweight title is up for grabs tonight, would you like to watch. The challenger is known for hitting like a freight train."

Yang sat down next to James since she had no reason not to and a good fight sounded nice.

The champion was first out of the locker room. He looked like someone who would fight for a living. He had cauliflower ear and what looked like an easily broken nose. He had a train of people with him. Coaches, friends, and family.

He had short black hair and was cleanly shaven. He made his way into the octagon as the announcer talked about him. James turned off the audio and began to speak himself. "The champion is a wrestler named Francesco Edgar. He has a lot of heart."

The champion took two laps around the ring and stopped at his corner. Soon there was what sounded like chanting and soon a fog came out of the challenger's locker room entrance. Two people all wearing hooded robes walked in unison to the octagon. " the challenger is a karate expert but I have first-hand experience of his grappling skills."

Yang looked at him confused by what he meant so he continued. " I trained with him for about a month before I came here. Nice guy, he always had this hyperactive ginger girl with him though. I'm pretty sure that they are in love but I don't think they want to admit it yet."

Just as Yang was starting to realize what James was telling her the two hooded people reached the octagon and they all at once threw their robes off.

Ren stood with his waist-length hair tied back, Nora was by his side, she had a towel over her shoulders and a water bottle in her hand. They stood at the entrance to the cage in silence. The doctor gave Ren his final exam and the sent him into the ring.

"I know that guy." Yang said pointing to Ren

"Really now, let me see your scroll for a second." James said with his hand held out.

Yang decided to trust him and gave him her scroll. He started to work on it while she looked back to the screen

Ren scaled the steps up to the cage with one deft leap. His face was it's usual emotionless slate and frankly, the crowd loved it. He seemed to be this otherworldly force of nature. He didn't bother to lap the cage or stoke the crowd. He just waited in his corner with his usual soul searching gaze fixed on his opponent.

The ref issued his usual last minute directions and with an iconic. "Let's get it on!"

The champ attack rushing forward like a bat out of Hell. he threw himself at Ren and tried to grab from his legs. Ren countered by getting double under hooks on the Francesco and throwing his hips and feet back. It was a textbook sprawl and Ren had clearly trained for it.

The Champ tried to back up but Ren looped his right arm over the man's shoulder and used his right hand to grab his own left hand.

" he has a lot of options from here." James said. " he can throw knees to the head or go for any number of submission holds."

The Champ kept trying to escape by backing out in the hopes that Ren hadn't locked his hands yet. Unfortunately for him, Ren had tightly Gabled his hands. The Gable grip being one that involves locking your hand palm to palm with one thumb tucked under the fingers of the other hand. With the lock being so strong he only managed to drag Ren with him as they back up a few yards.

Once the Champ stopped Ren attacked. Using his right arm Ren forced the Champ's left under his own jaw. With that done Ren shot his hands out so that his the back of his left hand was pressed onto the man's left side. The Champ tried to fight the Anaconda choke by trying to do a modification of a move known as a Granby roll that would have ended with him taking Ren's back. He was stopped only from Ren to press his head into the man's back forcing him back into place.

When the Champ landed he tried to get his feet under him buy Ren yanked them both backward using the space made by the Champion's earlier escape attempt. With the champ now flat on his gut Ren swung his left leg around the hooked his foot over the back of the Champions left ankle pinning it to the mat. The Champion tried one last time to escape by throwing his right leg over his back and attempting to escape but Ren ankle pin wouldn't allow for that.

Finally, Ren pulled on his left arm and the choke was on. The Champion kept trying to escape in vain for about seven seconds before his body went limp and the Ref was forced to stop the match.

Yang was speechless, Ren was good but he had just soundly beaten a man at least a decade older than him and made it look easy. After the fight, there was no pageantry from Ren. he didn't jump around and scream. ( although Nora did.) instead, he walked to the center of the cage and got on his knees. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. He was working to maintain his calm in spite of the hurricane of adrenaline and chaos flooding his senses.

Francesco for his part was back on his feet quickly and went over to kneel facing Ren. when Ren opened his eyes to acknowledge him Francesco lowered his head and shook Ren's hand.

It was the passing of the torch from one champion to another.

Yang had yet managed to process the fact that Ren was now fighting professionally by the time the fight was already over. She was simply dumbstruck, how had he gotten into an organization this big. Then it dawned on her. Ren and Nora had been training with Jorge for a few months now. Ren had a lot of time to get better. And while Yang had yet to see Jorge fight she also knew that Jorge had fought Jaune and that Jaune wound up in the hospital afterward.

Yang still didn't know why Ren was fighting professionally but that wasn't too important. Maybe he and Nora chose to change their career paths. It didn't matter her friends were safe and doing well for themselves. After the fight was over Ren neglected to perform a post-fight speech, he just walked away with Nora and not another word.

James turned off the projector and stood up. He wobbled for a second and Yang went to help him only for him to wave her off. He steadied himself and walked/limped to his room.

"Are you okay?" Yang asked. He had no aura but he seemed to recover at an alarming rate.

James turned to face her and smiled. "I have two really good qualities for a fighter, endurance, and durability," he said.

He tossed her her scroll back saying. " I logged you into my subscription, you can watch pretty much every fight that happened in the last twenty years. Including your friends. Keep in mind he doesn't use his real name. He fights under _the monk._

James disappeared into his room and Yang left to go to her own. Her team was all in bed so she didn't make to much noise. She was just about to go to sleep when she got an idea. She opened her scroll and found the app for the fight footage. It had a cursive _T_ on it and once she was in she typed in. _James Nylf_.


	7. Chapter 7

Yang watched the first fight open up. The first fighter was named Samuel Ramsey. He was a tall man with a bald head. As he walked to the octagon a song that Yang didn't recognize played. Due to its rap like nature she had a hard time hearing the words as well. He made his way tot he cage and when arrived the doctor looked him over and sent him in.

There was a pause as a new song started playing. Yang recognized it as being from the band Sabaton. She had heard it playing as background music in the Judo and she knew that it was called "Bismark" and that it was one of James' favorite songs. This meant that she was not at all surprised to see James make his way from the locker room to the cage. He was emotionless. Cold like an otherworldly being. The song was getting Yang heart going and if she was right it had James' heart pounding too. He was putting on a cold face but he was a tornado of feelings inside.

The doctor sent him in and the referee gave them their final instructions. The announcer said that this was non-enhanced league fight that would last three rounds or until there was a stoppage.

The ref started the fight and James and the Samuel rushed at each other. James threw a strong lead over hook with his right hand and Samuel slipped under it. He was loading up his own counterpunch when James kept moving turning his lead foot around and twisting his shoulders counterclockwise. He used the spinning power this gave him to throw a left spinning wheel kick that landed clean on Samuel's head and lifted him off of his feet.

Samuel landed face first on the canvas. With his right hand under his body. He was out before he landed and the ref jumped in to stop the fight.

Yang was shocked, to say the least. James had always shown that he was a grappler but she had never seen him do so much as throw a punch. And now he was landing a spinning back kick that was as good as her own.

For the next fight, she skipped the intro since she didn't care about who James was fighting. This time it was a man who was about as tall as James. The man also appeared to be carved from granite and that worried Yang.

She had heard about what happens when a non-enhanced person was hit by someone who looked like the opponent James now faced.

The muscle-bound man slowly made his way to the center of the ring. James for his part took off like a bat out-a-Hell. The other man was clearly not expecting James to attack like he had. In response, his opponent tried to throw a right leg front kick in order to stop James' advance.

James reacted by dropping to his left knee and sliding his right leg under the other man and cupped the inside of his left ankle with his right hand.

As he did this James brought his right shoulder to rest on the man's left foot and after tucking his head he rolled from his right shoulder to his left.

During the roll James' right leg turn so that his heel was on the back of the man's thigh. Next James placed his left leg over his right and pushed.

It was a variation on something James had called an imanari roll.

The man rolled to his back to escape the toe hold James was going for. James then released the hold and instead he hooked his right hand into the back of the man's left knee. The man tried to kick at James but when his leg was pulled back James blocked it with his left foot as he planted his right foot on man's left hip.

The man tried his best to escape but James had a tight hold on him and getting out wasn't going to happen. The hold also wasn't dagerous. It posed no threat to the man unless he had very inflexible hips.

This man didn't but he still tried to escape. It was a bit of trickery. The hold made you think that you were in danger when you really weren't, it made folks work to get out when James' could just let go at any time.

After thirty seconds of thrashing the man was gassed out and was panting hard. James released the leg and quickly scrambled into mount.

Yang knew that the end was near. James was an skilled grappler and he was now on top of an exhausted opponent. Sure enough he soon had a hold of the man's arm and was locking it into an armbar that the man had no answer for.

But he refused to tap and Yang watching in amused horror as the man's arm snapped at the elbow.

The ref stopped the fight and got the doctor to the injured fighter. Yang went to the next fight and skipped to the start of the actual fight.

Yang had to look away at times with the way that James was getting hit. He kept getting knocked down by strikes but he never stayed down and the opponent, A man named Cain Valasquez. Kept trying to follow up his knockdowns with ground and pound but James managed to survive and get back to his feet.

Not that it mattered since almost every time Valasquez got inside of boxing range he would through a four-punch combo that normally ended with James stumbling to the canvas and Cain trying to TKO James and the cycle would start again.

It was a brutal fight and by the end of it, James was covered in swelling and blood. But he also had a smile on his face.

It wasn't hard to see why. He had just spent the last fifteen minutes having the shit kicked out of him and in spite of that. He never stayed down, and he just kept coming. He may have lost but the way he and Cain hugged after the fight told Yang that they were proud of their work.

It also told Yang why James would occasionally forget what he was talking about. He problably got brain damage from that pummeling.

There were a few more fights but Yang was finally ready to go to sleep so she laid her head down and closed her eyes allowing rest to take her.

…

Yang found herself in an old looking cottage. She saw Jaune sleeping on a cot. She had no idea how she got here or where she was. But that didn't matter now. Jaune was having a nightmare. She could see it on his face in spite of the darkness of the room that was split only in a few places by moonlight.

She gently touched his face with her left hand as her right lifted the blanket Jaune was using. He flinched when her cold hand brushed on his cheek. She slipped into bed and snaked her arms around him.

That seemed to wake him up since Jaune tensed up and then in an instant relaxed. Without thinking he moved to hold Yang close and once he had her in his arms he froze. Yang felt a wave of saddness wash over Jaune.

"What's wrong?" she asked him tightening her grip on him.

"This isn't real I know it isn't but it keeps happening." he said. In spite of his words he made no move to release Yang or to make her release him.

Yang took this as an opportunity to change the subject. "Where are you?"

At this Jaune laughed. " great now my dreams are trying to get me to compromise operational security."

"You're on a mission, what are you doing?" Yang asked him.

Jaune didn't answer instead he snuggled deeper into Yang's chest and made a mildly happy hum. Yang felt a warm sensation flow through her starting at Jaune's head.

Jaune seemed to be on a mission but she would get more out of him in the morning. She looped one of her arms about the back of his head and held him close. She felt his breath on her skin and for the first time in a few days, she felt truly at peace.

A peace that was shattered when she woke up the next morning and realized that it had all just been a dream.

Yang knew that she was going to get a bad funk about her if she didn't get her mind off of her dream soon so she opened her scroll just as an announcement from Jorge came over the PA. it called team Coco Adel to the headmaster's office. Yang smirked at the thought of whatever Coco had done to warrant her being called up like this but that wasn't her main concern.

She checked her scroll and saw that she had no new messages so she read the last of the letters she had from Jaune.

 _Dear Yang,_

 _My life, if you could call it that has been going good. Jorge has been sending me on more and more team ops recently something about me needing teammates._

 _Either way, I know that if you are reading these then you may have been worried by some of the things I have said. In hindsight, it wasn't a good time to be me. I don't know if it is a good time to be me now but I think it is better now than it was then._

 _Since you may have been worried I haven't taken to drinking,and I am keeping myself fed. But I will admit to occasionally forgetting to brush my teeth._

 _Other than that there isn't much happening right now, I am waiting for my next orders. I may be getting a long term partner soon._

Yang folded the letter up and put it with the others. Jaune may not be here but having his letters helped. She looked at her schedule and saw that she had a class on room clearing with someone whose name simply read Cpl Thadeus. She hadn't had a class with him yet but he came highly recommended by the other students.

Yang got herself dressed in clean clothes and head to class.

…

Coco entered into Jorge's office with her usual swagger. She had no idea what she was being called in for but she wasn't going to show it. She took a seat in one of the chairs facing Jorge's desk.

"Headmaster how can I help you?" she asked. Doing her best to sound like she wasn't nervous that he had found out about the still she had going in the basement.

" I need you and your team to be on a bullhead heading to Haven Academy as soon as possible."

Coco had no opposition to this but she still wanted to know what she was getting into. Before she could ask Jorge once again began to speak. " I have a mission in Haven that it going to cause no small amount of chaos. When that happens I need you and your team to be on call in case the Grim attack."

Coco still had some question so when he stopped she asked. "Sir, what is going to happen in Haven?"

Jorge rose from his desk and walked over to the window it faced westward to Haven. He looked outside and said. " Headmaster Lionheart it a traitor and he needs to be removed. Jaune is going to be doing it tomorrow. So I suggest that you and your team get going."


	8. Chapter 8

Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart was making the final adjustments to his email to Arthur Watts when he was alerted to an unidentified Bullhead asking for clearance to land. When the Haven docks asked for a clearance level the Bullhead's pilot answered.

" clearance level Romeo, Bravo, 44O8."

The tower would acknowledge the code after they ran it through their system. Not that Lionheart was listening. After he heard the first word he was grabbing his bug out bag and texting his wife to meet him at the car.

Romeo was the first word in the clearance code for all of the "Rangers". In truth, Leonardo had no idea who the "Rangers" where. He only knew that after Ozpin had been deposed by someone named Jorge Telmarvak a group that called themselves "the Rangers" had sprung up and begun to destroy all of Ozpin's former operatives.

Given that Leonardo was technically one of Ozpin's former operatives he was nervous, to say the least. He had followed the Rangers and even used his connections to set a trap for a team of them. He had hoped that after they lost some of their own that they would slow down.

How wrong he had been. Instead, the next time he heard about the "Rangers" was when a Ranger that was known only by the Callsign firstborn was seen on video killing all eight of the operatives that Lionheart had brought together.

The experience was both humiliating and horrifying. He could tell by the way that he carried himself that Firstborn wasn't that old but that didn't change the fact that he had practically massacred all eight of them.

Lionheart was closing his office door when he remembered the second word in the clearance code. "Bravo," that was good it meant that it was a two-man team and Firstborn always worked alone.

The four numbers at the end would be the serial numbers of the rangers. Nobody knew how many of them there were but since they had two digit numbers there was less than a hundred of them.

"44O8"

Leo's blood ran chill when he heard the last two numbers. O eight was the number used to refer to Firstborn. He was the only one that had a letter in his ID number. Leo had no idea who 44 was but it didn't matter. If firstborn was here then he needed to get to his car and run as soon as he could.

Salem would most likely kill him for deserting but he could either stay and die or run and try to survive. As he approached his car he saw his wife sitting inside. She hadn't seen him yet and he was about to step into her line of sight when he realized something.

He was being watched, he could feel it. Two sets on eyes on his back. "Damn," he muttered to himself. He had played right into their hands. If he were in school then they would need to either arrest him or execute him in his own school. Neither of which would be a good idea. Instead, they had forced him to run and expose himself.

He turned around and saw two rangers standing behind him by about thirty feet. It was clear that if he tried to run they would kill him. One of the two masked men started towards Leonardo at a slow walk. He was careful not to step between Leo and his partner.

"There is a bomb linked to the ignition," he said. The disappointment was clear in his voice as he continued. " the rest is up to you."

Leonardo recognized the ranger standing before him. It was Sun Wu Kong, not just one of his students. But Somebody who had once looked up to him. Somebody who had now seen the coward he really was. Leonardo had found Sun when the monkey Faunus was only twelve years old. Sun had tried to steal his wallet and when he caught him Leonardo saw promise.

That was a different time, that was before he sold his soul to _her_. He had been a mentor to the boy. Even a father figure at times. Sun had read of the courage that Leonardo had shown in his youth. He had come to admire that courage and built his leadership style off of it.

Shame washed over him as he understood what this meant. One of his pupils was nowhere to kill him because of his actions. In an odd way he was proud. He may have been a failure as a headmaster but he had taught Sun the right way in spite of it.

Leo refused to cry in front of Sun, especially not now. He had no right to feel sorry. He had done awful things and now he was paying for it. Instead, he turned to the car and leaned into the window telling his wife that he needed her to grab something from inside their house and that he would bring the car around front.

He was hoping that in his final moments he could offer up one last act of courage. And maybe even earn some of Sun's respect back, maybe.

He wasn't going to let his failures kill her as well. He loved his wife she was proud lioness he had meet a few months after he graduated Haven. It was in part him trying to impress her that had caused him to do all of the brave. ( and depending on who you ask stupid) things that earned him his fame

Siranduilas looked nervous but she trusted him so she headed back to the house.

Once she was inside Lionheart sat down in the driver seat and after taking a deep breath he put the key in the ignition and in a calm deliberate motion turned the key.

…

Firstborn and Stonewall made their way to Lionheart's office with their warrant in hand. They were going to offer him the chance to surrender peacefully. When they arrived at the office they found that it was empty.

The computer was still on and that told them that he hasn't gone far. They were searching for any signs of were he was when they heard the explosion.

They both headed to the source of the sound. Once they located the source they saw Lionheart's car engulfed in flames and his wife being held back by Sun Wu Kong. Stonewall walked over to him and asked him. " what happened here?"

Sun responded in two ways. He turned and said. " Professor Lionheart's car just exploded, I think he was inside." He looked frightened and Stonewall could understand why.

Stone was caught off guard for only a moment when Sun subtlely handed him a folded up piece of paper. Stone recognized the handoff so he walked over to Firstborn who was keeping an eye on the burning car and unfolded the paper.

"Charlie, Romeo, Bravo, 78, 32" was written on the paper. Stonewall recognized the code as a way for a covert ranger team to communicate. The "Charlie" stood for covert. The rest was their basic flight clearance code. Stonewall had heard good things about ranger 32. He was known by his number and by the nickname the Great Sage Monkey.

Stone didn't know his true name but if he was here then he and Firstborn could leave. "Firstborn," he yelled loud enough to be heard over the fire. When his partner turned to look at him he said. "Change of plans. You and I are heading out."

Firstborn nodded and without a second thought or he walked back to the bullhead. It was a short mission but a completed one all the same, and that was what mattered to them. Once they were back inside Stonewall sat in the pilot's chair and primed the engines.

After they were in the air Firstborn asked him. " what was that all about?" his mask was still on as was it was protocol for all active Rangers. Nobody but Jorge knew what they really look and sounded like.

They were required to keep their masks on at all times with the exception of when they were eating and even they were only allowed to eat when their partner was asleep. Now there were different rules for the three, four, and one man teams but the two that never changed was that nobody could see your face and nobody EVER heard your real name.

This was all in the name of operational security and there were some teams that did none of these things. But Firstborn was not one of those people. Stonewall didn't even know what the color of his skin was.

"There was a covert ranger team on the ground. It was the Great Sage Monkey and Ranger 78." Stonewall said as he lifted them off and headed them to their new safehouse. This would be the first night that he and Firstborn spent as a team. Up until now they had been staying in separate locations and meeting up at a staging area.

When they arrived Stonewall checked his secured scroll and saw that he had a message from his father. He responded with a simple answer going over what he could about his day. He knew that his father and by default his mother worried about him. He was a part of the Atlas military and he was almost killed on an operation. In fact, word that he was dead had begun to circulate when he walked through the gates of an Atlas Military base.

He heard that it had messed them both up pretty badly which was why he was so nervous about signing up with the Rangers as soon as he did. But Jorge talked him into telling him that he needed him to work with someone who was a good operative but needed to be supervised for mental reasons.

Stone wasn't sure but he had a good feeling that Firstborn knew why he was assigned a partner and that for that reason Firstborn was trying to spend as little time with him as possible.

Once they were back at the safehouse Firstborn checked his own secured scroll and finding nothing he puts it down on the table and starts to write a letter. He finished and looked at it before shaking his head and throwing it in the trash and heading into his room to get some sleep.

Stonewall's curiosity got the better of him and he grabbed the letter and read it. Firstborn must have sensed Stone's interest since he scribbled out the name of the person he was writing to.

 _Dear_ _,_

 _I miss you, I know that I have said this before but it's still true. Every night I stay awake and think about you and… us._

 _I hope this doesn't sound creepy but I have been dreaming about you. I had two dreams with you in them. One while I was in the desert and one while I was prepping for an operation._

 _Each time I would be having a nightmare and I would wake up in your arms. Each time I have a moment where I am excited and I think you may really be here. Then I remind myself that none of it's real. Both times you tried to tell me that it was but I knew, I knew that when I woke up I would be alone._

 _I miss you. I think that I may need to come home soon. I don't know if I would have a right to even look you in the eye after what I said. But I will, I will look you in the eye and then I will take whatever punishment you and the other send my way. I have more than earned it but I need to see you again. I need to feel you next to me._

 _I think I may be in love with you_ _._ _I don't know if you will ever get this or if you will ever return my love but I have to ask. I have already lost two women I love and I refused to lose a third._

 _If all goes well then I should arrive a few days after this letter._

Stonewall put the letter back in the trash and walked into Firstborn's room. He was doing push-ups in full armor which while unconventional was the kind of craziness that he expected from Firstborn.

"You heading home soon?" Stone asked him.

"You read my letter," Firstborn said.

"Yeah, it seemed like the thing to do." while Stone was speaking he reached up and pulled off his helmet. It was against protocol but the only reason he was even in the Rangers was so that he could keep an eye on Firstborn who was getting out soon so it didn't matter.

"To be fair," he said. " if you didn't want me to read it you could have either taken it with you, torn it up, or you could have sent it to whoever it is that you are in love with."

Firstborn froze in the down position. "Yeah, but I think it may be best if my arrival was a surprise"

"Well," Stone said " My name is Jackson E. Ironwood, I have wanted to tell you that before I leave. If you ever need anything all you need to do is find me. Well on that note I am gonna head for home. How about you?"

Firstborn was now doing sit-ups and stopped long enough to say. " I have one mission left and then I am home."

Stone nodded in approval before he left the house and got into his car. All of the Rangers were offered a motorcycle and training but Jackson knew that if Glynda ever found out that her "son" was riding around doing black ops on a "two-wheeled death machine" she would kill him. Thinking of his pseudo mom Jackson turned his car towards the airport and headed home.


	9. Chapter 9

Yang was waiting for James to open up the Judo room when she actually read the note on the door.

"At the shooting range, gonna be out till noon. teaching class on shotguns"

Yang knew that James was a hand to hand fighter but she never knew that he was also a gun expert. She made her way to the shooting range. She found James standing in front of a group of students with what seemed to be a pump-action shotgun in his hands.

" the shotgun is a close range weapon. It has little use beyond twenty yards unless you are carrying slugs. It is big it is loud and it is hard to control. So, Why would anybody want to use it in battle?" he asked the crowd. They all had their ear protection on so Yang grabbed a set of muffs from the rack and walked over to see what the answer was.

One student raised his hand and when James motioned at him with his head said. " because you can load a shotgun with all manner of things that can make it more effective."

He nodded in agreement and looked to another person whose hand was up and asked them. "What about you?"

The student smiled a slightly wicked smile and said. " not much out there that hit as hard as a shotgun."

James smiled in agreement with that as well and turned to fire three rounds at an alarming speed for a pump action shotgun. "Today I will be helping you to get a better mastery of your shotguns. If you don't have a shotgun of your own then you are in the wrong class and you should have gone to my cousin's class yesterday. Let's get started."

…

It was two hours since James began his class and even though Yang thought she knew everything there was to know about shotguns. (given that she uses two of them) she was proven wrong more than a few times.

All in all, she left the class more than a little wiser and was happy with that. What she wasn't happy about were the whispers she had heard from the students who thought James couldn't hear them with his ear protection on.

And while he may not have heard them Yang did. The general idea was that the whole school seemed to actually believe that Yang and James were dating.

It was a ridiculous idea, to say the least. After all, the only reason that they ever even meet was that Yang was getting snappy with Jorge, and that was the sort of thing that James would never do.

Yang knew that James was a good person but she also knew that if he had any kind of feelings for her then she would have noticed them by now. Instead, he seemed like someone who was so focused on his work that the idea of romance didn't really occur to him.

She got to the Judo room at the same time as Coach Severn. His full name was Dan Severn and he was an older fighter who wasn't too good at striking but his grappling was top tier. He also weighed in at about 250 pounds.

Although it should be noted that Yang was pretty sure that Jorge somehow upped the gravity in the training wing. She wasn't sure but it made sense. Someone the size of Coach Severn should weigh closer to 166 pounds. It was shocking and it made everything harder but it never seemed to really bother the coaches.

Coach Severn unlocked the door and when he saw that she was waiting outside he tilted his head to the side and asked. " you really that eager to learn or are you waiting for someone?"

It was clear that the rumors about her and James weren't confined to the students. " well I normally learn from James but I am here to work on my grappling."

Coach Severn nodded, he looked mildly pleased before he pointed to one of the other rooms. " I am gonna be doing a very throw heavy class today and from what I hear you are pretty good at those already. Maybe you should go and work with Coach Carwin. He can teach you about this wonderful thing called Ground&Pound."

Yang walked to the room only to find a large man pummeling a heavy bag that was laid on the ground." Are you, Coach Carwin?" she asked

He stopped smashing the poor bag and looked up at her. " yeah, and my name is Shane, there is no need to call me Coach Carwin."

"I was told to ask you about Ground and Pound by Coach Severn?" Yang said. She was hoping that she didn't seem as nervous as she actually was. She didn't know this man and she was nervous about how he would react to a random student interrupting his training.

He nodded in silence and walked over to the pile of heavy bags before dragging one over to where she was and dropping in front of her. " we are gonna start from full mount. This is where you will normally finish the fight from."

He straddled his bag and waited for Yang to do the same. When she did he explained. " there are two kinds of strikes. There are flurries and there are control strikes." he proceeded to throw a furious barrage of hooks at the bag where someone's head would be. It would have been devastating to be on the receiving end of but Yang also noticed that Shane had to catch his breath after throwing it.

After he caught his breath he said. " that was a flurry, it is a powerful burst of strikes but it can cost you stamina. In fact, I lost a fight because of that. I threw a flurry of strikes for the whole first round and afterward I was gassed out Brock ended up choking me out."

He then placed one hand on the bag and leaned on that hand before bringing his other hand crashing down in a tight arc that was almost too tight to be a hook. It didn't have as much power as the other strikes but it landed and it would have been an extremely difficult strike to block as it was thrown with such speed.

Shane postured up and said. " that was a controlled strike. I used one hand to make sure that he couldn't block and then I punched with my other hand moving fast. Not as hard of a hit but it is more likely to hit and it will work to drain his stamina. You try it. Through a flurry of strikes.

Yang did as she was told and when she was about five punches in she was already exhausted. It was disturbing for her to think that she was so out of conditioning that she was gassing this fast. It didn't seem possible she was doing just fine last night during her training.

She looked at Shane and was about to tell him that she may need to go get checked out at the infirmary when a look of realization crossed his face. " oh, my bad I forgot about that."

He stood up from his bag and walked over to a wall panel and after pushing a few buttons he looked to Yang and said, " that should do it. Just wait for a few seconds and you should feel a little better"

As he spoke Yang felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Like the whole world was suddenly lighter. " artificial gravity enhancers, I turned mine up a little and forgot to reset it" Shane said as he walked back over to her. "They make the whole room feel heavier because the planet that me and the other coaches come from is bigger than yours. Our planet has a mass of about 5.98 times ten to the 24th Kilograms, or 4.09 to the times ten to the 23rd slugs. Whereas your planet has a mass of 7.62 times ten to the 17th Kilograms or 5.22 times ten to the 16th slugs. Which means that the force of gravity that you feel here is about two-thirds of the force felt on our home world. Now in order to make it easier for us to train you Jorge somehow rigged up a gravity generator now I don't know how it works but I know how to operate it. Which is good since the whole weight difference really would have been a problem for most people on account of how I am 260-pound man on my planet and a 160ish pound man on yours. In all honesty, if any of the younger coaches left the training rooms they would be superhuman by your standards. Since weight isn't just the mass of an object it is the mass multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity acting on the object. In accordance with Newton's second and first laws. So they are used to applying a force that would be…."

Yang had no idea what the man was saying and she certainly didn't expect to hear a Dr. Oobleck like vocabulary from a man with as many tattoos as Shane. Yang quietly slipped out while Shane kept prattling on about something involving the universal Gravitational consistency and radii or something like that.

She was walking back to the Judo room to see if coach Severn was still there since he may be able to explain where James was and what the hell coach Carwin had just said.

She was at the door when her scroll rang. It was James so he answered it. Instead of her friend, she saw Junior's face looking at her. They exchanged shocked expressions before Junior said. Listen I don't care how you know this one but come get your friend."

He panned the camera around to show James half slumped at the bar with an almost empty bottle in his hands. He looked drunk off his ass but something didn't seem right. James had never shown any signs of alcohol problems before. So why would he just take off in the middle of the day to go get sloshed?

Needless to say, she was on the next Bullhead to vale to check on her friend. She couldn't find a private flight so she had to take her bike and every second that was spent waiting to touch down was another second that the uneasy feeling that she had about James.

Once they touched down was on Bumblebee and racing off the exit ramp before it had fully lowered. It wasn't safe but she was in a hurry. She was lucky that it was before noon and so there weren't too many cars on the street. She raced through three red lights but didn't care. One of her friends needed her and she was going to be there. She may have lost Pyrrha but she was not going to lose another one.

She got the bar in record time and half jumped half fell fo her bike hoping that it would slide to a stop on the extra strength kickstand she put on it.

He pushed open to doors and saw James still at the bar. He had a long coat on like the one Jorge owned. Which given his first name basis with the man wasn't terribly shocking. When she sat next to him at the bar she saw his face. It was blank, like he wasn't even awake and just sitting up in his sleep.

"I'm hurtin Yang, I'm hurtin alot," he said his words were slurred a little which made sense considering how drunk he was.

"Well, maybe you should try and stop hurting," Yang said. For years she would lament the poor choice of words she had just used. She was almost too slow to stop what came next.

James nodded before he reached his right hand into his coat and smoothly drew a revolver that he deftly thumbs cocked and was in the process of sticking under his chin.

Yang grabbed the muzzle and pulled it one way as she shoved James the other. He fell off his stool and landed on the floor leaving Yang to stare at the gun in her hand for a moment before she turned to James and yelled. " WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

She stopped talking when she saw him. He was curled into a ball and crying. Yang had only seen him like this one other time and that was when she had beaten him half to de Ea

James was still crying but she was able to speak now so he answered her. " their all dead, my parents my brothers and sisters. All of them, my cousin is all I have left now and he dropped off the grid after it happened."

Yang was speechless. She had meet James' brothers, father, and cousin. But she didn't know that he had any other family. And apparently, he no longer did. Yang was still trying to process what she had just heard when Jorge showed up.

He had a suit on a coat hanger and a small plastic bag both of which he handed to Junior before he walked over to the two teens. " James," he said when he was close. " the service is in a few hours. I brought one of your suits but you need to get cleaned up."

Yang was going to tell Jorge that James needed time to get himself working again when much to her shock James stood up. Without a word, he walked over to Junior and took the suit and bag heading for one of the bathrooms.

"James isn't like you," Jorge said. Answering the question Yang hadn't asked yet. ' right now he needs direction, he needs a clear set of directions. The news is old but hadn't gotten here because of what happened."

"What did happen?" Yang asked. She was scared of what the answer may be but she needed to know.

" a white fang attack, they rolled through the town and killed his father and brothers then the Grimm that they attracted with their hatred killed the rest of them."

Yang was a little confused but Jorge seemed to be one step ahead of her again. " James and his family come from a different world, I brought them here when I hired James. They were attacked because they were fostering a cease-fire between the local white fang group, and the local AFC. ( the Anti-Faunus-Coalition) when the high ups in the chain of both groups found out they ordered the locals to shut off all talks. Both groups were getting ready to take action when the Fang acted first"

Yang was going to ask another question when James emerged from the bathroom un a well-fitting black suit. He walked at a steady but slow pace to Jorge before saying. " I am ready whenever you are,"

Jorge nodded his head for the door and the three of them left. Yang wasn't sure why she wanted to go with them. She wasn't close with James' family but she was close to James. That was why she would go right.

Her friend needed her. And she was not going to let him down. Jorge and James got into a car while Yang mounted her bike and followed them. They drove to a cemetery where the six caskets were set to be lowered into the ground.

It made Yang sick to see an entire family wiped out with one exception. Jorge said something while he read from an old leather bound book but Yang wasn't listening. She was looking at that exception.

James had a look Yang had never seen before. He wasn't angry, he wasn't sad. But he wasn't blank. It took Yang a few minutes to find out what it was. James was determined. She didn't know what he was planning to do. But she had pity for anyone who would get in his way.

The service was short, neither Jorge nor James had much to say and they weren't the type to waste time standing around a group of dead bodies. So they help to lower the caskets and headed back to Beacon. When they arrived Jorge lead James to his room in the back of the dojo and the broken and morning boy was asleep in a few seconds.

Jorge left and when he was back on the mats he was meet by Yang who said " I want him moved to an actual dorm he needs to be watched. He tried," Yang had a hard time finishing her sentence it was still pretty jarring but she knew that it had to be done so he continued " Jorge, he tried to kill himself today."

Jorge nodded solemnly " I know," he said, "Junior told me, I was already on the way but then I moved a little faster. As far as your request well. I would need somewhere to out him that wouldn't take him away from his work so he needs to stay here but I will assign him to work with some of the other coaches more. Maybe I can have Coach Monson look at him."

Yang had meet coach Monson. He was a little crazy but he was a good sparring partner for the advanced students and he also had a master's degree in psychology. That made Yang feel a little better but she was still nervous about leaving him alone until then.

She was about to speak when Jorge answered her question for her." I suppose If you can get him to Jaune's room he can stay there and I can have a teacher keep an eye on him."

Jorge left Yang to find a way to do that on her own. If she could get him out of the training wing then she would be fine. But training wing literally added about sixty pounds to James' weight. But she had to try.

Yang tried to wake up James hoping that he would still function under the same mindset that he had earlier. If he was willing to just do whatever Yang said then she could get him to the Jaune's room. After about four minutes of trying to pick him up, Yang had an idea.

She searched the wing until she found coach Ngannou. He as a beast of a man who apparently worked in a salt mine and was immensely strong. He spoke good English but the fine points of grammar occasionally evaded him. So Yang took a moment to think of the best way to phrase her request.

"Coach Ngannou, I need help." the massive man understood and followed Yang. she lead him into James' room and while he seemed nervous about going into a stranger's room he got over it fast and stepped in. " please, lift him." Yang said.

Coach Ngannou lifted James up fireman's style and followed Yang to Jaune's old room. When they got there Yang offered to take James. At first Coach Ngannou was worried about a bantamweight holding a heavyweight but he slowly and gently handed James off to Yang who had no problem carrying him now that her aura was active.

She waved Coach Ngannou goodbye and used her free hand to open the door. She laid James' down on the bed and went back to her dorm to let her team know that she was going to keep an eye on James for the night.

Yang was worried when she saw a tall and thin man in a Ranger's long coat standing outside of her dorm in a full face helmet. She had a bad feeling about why a Ranger would be at her dorm. It reminded her of the day that Yang, her father, and Ruby came back from getting groceries only to find a hunter waiting for them. That hunter was there to tell them that Summer had died which made Yang nervous about why this Ranger was here. When he saw her he asked in a clearly altered voice. " Are you, Yang Xiao Long?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you, Yang Xiao Long?" the man asked again after Yang offered him no answer.

"Yes, yes I am," Yang said hoping that she didn't sound too worried. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

" I am about to break almost half the rules I swore to follow," the man said as he reached for his helmet. The faceplate hissed lightly when the helmet depressurized. It allowed him to lift the armor piece up and off his head before he rested the right lip of his helmet on his left hip resting on his belt. He held the other side in his left hand saying. " My name is McNelley, I am a Beacon Ranger. I am here to give you something from Jaune Arc."

Yang's heart stopped for a moment. What did Jaune have to send to her? All of his letter's had been sent through Jorge. She was waiting for him to elaborate when he pulled out a scroll and handed it to her.

It was unlocked and when she opened it there was a video ready to play. It was Jaune looking at a camera and a play button over his face. "What is this?" Yang asked

" it is a scroll that I promised to bring to you during my training. I don't know what's on it but I need to leave. I have a debrief to give to Jorge." after he answered he put his helmet back on and quickly disappeared down the hall.

Yang pressed play on the scroll and the video started. There was a moment of silence before Jaune said.

"Yang, if you're watching this then you may want to go to your dorm. I don't know how you will react to what I am about to say but I know that I don't want you to hear it in public."

The video went no further since Yang had paused it and walked into her room.

When she was sitting on her bed she went to press play, she realized that the rest of her team was asleep so she put her headphones in and then restarted the video. Jaune kept talking saying.

" So anyway, I guess I should explain this video huh? Well if you got this then you've met McNelly." there was a long wait as Jaune didn't seem to know how to say what he needed to say.

"Yang, I'm dead."

Yang knew that the video continued but in all the years to come she could never remember the rest of it. All she knew was that this was the message that Jaune had recorded in the case of his death. In all honesty, she had one too. It was a letter that would be sent to her uncle by Raven.

Yang needed to know if Jaune was really dead, this was the second time she had been told he was dead since he ran away and the fourth time she thought he was dead.

Yang was very careful not to wake up her team as he left. If Jaune was dead then she didn't want to tell them now, that would be a task for tomorrow. Instead, she got up and headed for the headmaster's Office. It was late but Jorge was probably there debriefing McNelley.

She was right and when the elevator doors open she barged into a room with the masked Ranger sitting across from him. The conversation stopped the moment the doors opened and both men turned to look at Yang.

The room was lit only by the moonlight coming in through the massive windows behind her so when she walked over to them her shadow cover both men. " is it true?" she asked.

She had spent enough time around Jorge to understand that would know what she meant.

Jorge brought one of his hands up to rest on his beard and said. " yes, it is "

Yang could tell from the tone of his voice that he was hurt by the news. Which made sense after all Jorge had been a second father to Jaune.

"Bring him back," Yang said. She had watched Jorge resurrect Jaune once, he could do it again.

Seeming to recognize the storm that was brewing Jorge looked to McNelley and said. " You're dismissed."

McNelley got up and without another word left. Once the elevator doors were closed Yang repeated herself. This time with more force. " Bring him back!"

Jorge looked her in the eye and said. "I can't"

He may have planned to say more but he didn't get the chance. " BULLSHIT," Yang yelled. " I watched you bring him back to life, you killed Ozpin. I was listening to your little lifestory I know you can bring him back," she said.

Yang knew that it was useless. If Jorge was able to bring Jaune back then he would have but that didn't matter. He was powerful enough and Yang knew it.

"BRING HIM BACK!" she demanded.

"It's not that simple," Jorge said rising from his chair. " If I bring him back it unbalance the world. Do you know what happened when I brought him back the first time? Do you?"

Yang had no answer so she held her tongue as he continued.

"One of the most dangerous people to ever exist was released on Remnant. He was barely contained that time and even then there will still be repercussions for it."

By now Yang was almost too angry to speak.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT COST TRADE MY LIFE FOR HIS IF YOU HAVE TO," she screamed. She knew that it wouldn't matter if Jorge could just kill someone in exchange for Jaune then he would already have found someone worth killing and done so.

"And then what," Jorge countered. " tell him you sacrificed yourself for him, no that would break him. I won't do that."

Yang wanted to say something about finding some else that could be used but words never formed. Instead, her anger and pain overtook her and she lashed out at Jorge. She knew that he could take it so she wasn't too worried.

Instead of avoiding or countering her he simply let her hit him. So she punched him again, and again, and again. Each time her hand connected with his face a little bit of her anger died. and much to her frustration, Jorge looked to be untouched.

Most men with their aura unlocked would have at least a bruise but he was clean of any damage. It didn't matter and after a fifteen-second long flurry, Yang's anger was gone and instead she was leaning against him crying hysterically.

Her legs were ready to buckle on her if they had the chance. She felt Jorge gently place his right hand on the back of her head and his left under her arm and resting between her shoulder blades. Normally this would be a bad idea but right now it did more good than bad for Yang.

Her father had held her like this once when she accidentally shot herself with one of her gauntlets. Only then she was crying because of a broken ankle, now it was a broken heart. The same heart that Jaune had brought warmth and honest love to for the first time since Summer Rose had passed; was now shattering like a castle of glass smashed by the battering ram of reality. Jaune lived a deadly lifestyle, they all did. His simply caught up to him sooner than expected.

"How did it happen?" Yang managed to ask.

As Jorge Answered Yang found herself calming down. She was still hurt but now she was stable." He and another ranger were sent to investigate a suspicious murder. It looked like it may have been White Fang related but it seems that they weren't involved. The Grimm still attacked the village while they were there. It was a massive force and Jaune held them back so that his partner could get the civilians out."

Jorge paused for a moment like he was debating if he wanted to keep going. He shook his head and said. " I have his helmet camera footage if you want to see it."

Yang knew it was a bad idea but if this footage was the last thing fo Jaune she was ever going to get then she would take it. She looked up at Jorge and nodded her head. Jorge pulled out his scroll. Briefly searching the stored files he began a video and handed it to Yang.

It was a first-person view of someone holding a rifle that looked like Jaune's gun. They were backing up and firing at an oncoming wave of Grimm. Jaune was pushed back into a hotel and once inside was safe from the Deathstalker but the ursi and beowolfes could still get in. Jaune thew a grenade out the window that killed a pair of Ursi that were fighting over which one would get to go first.

After they had fallen Jaune could see that deathstalker was losing interest in him and was about to go after McNelley and the civilians. Thinking fast Jaune waited until all of the beowolves and Ursi were inside before he jumped out the rightmost ground floor window.

He was breathing heavy which made sense, after all, he was probably fighting for several minutes before the video started. When he was the wooden porch he pulled out an incendiary grenade and rolled it down the length of the porch trapping the Grimm within.

Unknown to Jaune or Yang however the owner of the hotel had a moonshine still under the porch which promptly exploded launching Jaune through the air and his helmet off of him. The camera now showed Jaune struggling to move after the blast. Jaune's face was covered in sweat and blood and Yang could see it now that the helmet camera was now on the ground facing him.

He had rolled to his back when the deathstalker got to him. Jaune was using his legs to keep the arms back and his arms to deflect the stinger but it was a matter of time before something got past him.

Recognizing that killing this Grimm would require a great sacrifice Jaune brought one of his hands down to his belt and grabbed his last shining thunder flashbang. Using his thumb to pull the pin Jaune shoved the grenade into the monster's mouth just at the monster ran its stinger through his heart.

Jaune limp body was briefly dangled in the air by the trying to him off her stinger before the flashbang when off killing the beast. The video stopped with a shot of the two of them. Jaune dead still impaled on the Deathstalker's tail. And the Deathstalker, missing most of his head thanks to a grenade.

Yang wanted to cry, she wanted to scream in agony and rage but she couldn't. Something in her had snapped when she watched the video. Jorge looked like he was going to speak but he saw that Yang wasn't listening so he let her go. Returning to his desk Yang walked to the elevator in silence.

She rode to the bottom floor and just kept walking. Yang found herself in vale before she really knew where she was going. It was cold and she wanted to get inside so since she was only three blocks away from the bakery she and Jaune had had breakfast in.

She was on her way there when somebody tried talking to her. He reached out and gently grabbed her by the shoulder. " Ma'am you look a little lost can I…"

He was cut off when Yang lashed out grabbing his forearm and squeezing as hard as she could. She heard his bone's crack as he dropped to his knees. Realizing that she was committing a felony Yang let him go just in time for a cop to see him on his knees holding his arm in extreme pain.

"Are you okay sir, what happened?" the cop asked.

"Nothing officer I slipped and landed on the curb, I think my arm is broken but I will be alright." it was clear what happened but if the man refused to tell the truth then the officer couldn't do anything to him about it.

Understanding that this was a gift from someone she had just needlessly hurt Yang quickly walked away hoping that he wouldn't have a change of heart.

The dinner was almost empty except for one man sitting at the counter. Yang stepped through the front door and saw that it was James. She wasn't certain how he had found the Dinner but it also didn't particularly matter to her.

"Funny seeing you here," she said making her way to the counter before sitting next to him.

He didn't seem to notice her being more enthralled with his coffee. After a long moment, he answered "Yeah, funny." before going back to staring at his coffee.

Yang had nothing else to say so she simply ordered a coffee from Slick and went back to her moping. She was drinking her coffee when she heard the door to the diner open. She turned and saw that the cause of the sound was a group of teenagers. Three boys and a girl.

They looked to be a happy bunch and the girl lead them to a booth in the corner of the dinner. The group wasn't waiting long since Slick or maybe his brother came out to take their order.

Yang's coffee arrived and she too became entranced by it. Staring at the steaming liquid she didn't notice one of the boys from earlier coming up behind her. " hey good lookin, what do you say you and I go and fix that look on your face?" he said placing both of his hands on her hips.

Yang was getting ready to crush one of her elbows into his face when she heard " oh fuck this" in a quiet whisper next to her. She turned to see James swinging the metal kraft full of coffee that was on the counter at the boy.

Yang was too shocked to act when she saw the kraft crumple as it smashed against the boys face. All at once Yang remembered what coach Carwin had said about how people from his planet would be considered superhuman on Remnant.

The boy stumbled back before he collapsed to the floor unconscious as his aura shimmered and gave way. Yang was relieved to see that the boy was hunter since if he wasn't then what James had done may have been gone from assault to murder.

James tried to go back to his coffee when he was interrupted. "Aye lad, mind tellin me why you did that?" another one of the men said with the third behind him.

James didn't look up he just sipped before saying. " he was bothering my friend so I dealt with him."

The third boy stepped forward saying "tis a problem since ez our friend"

James knew where this was going so he stood up and pulled out his wallet. He began fishing out bills and tossing them on the counter saying. " fifteen for the kraft, thirty for the stool, and two hundred for the table and blood."

Slick took the money nervously as James turned back to the two boys who now had the girl standing behind them. "How do you want to do this?" James asked.

"Well, you it ehm wid a cheap shot so two on one seems fair." the third boy said.

James nodded and without another word he lunged forward landing a heavy southpaw left push kick on the second boy launching him several feet back. The third guy tried to throw a right head kick at James but he caught it, passed the foot from his left side to his right and did a spinning back kick aimed at the back of the boy's thigh.

When he hit the ground the boy rolled back to his feet only to be greeted with the sight of James' knee colliding with his face. He managed to stumble back to his feet just in time to watch James' left forearm block a wild right hook from his friend and promptly crack his friend with a lead hook, straight (or cross depending on who you ask), lead uppercut combo that knocked him off his feet and out of consciousness.

Rushing in and hoping for the best the remaining boy soon learned the error of his ways when his attempt to use a double leg takedown resulted in James sprawling on him just long enough to transition to back side control before he stood up and unseen to the boy grab the wooden stool he had been sitting on. He held it like a spear and proceeded to break the stool over the boy's face just as he was turning to face him dropping him next to his friend.

James looked to the leader of the group and waited. She was smart and recognized that he had already paid for everything except for the table and blood. She waved her hands in the air saying "I want no trouble these idiots are mine I am their team leader."

"Where are you from?" Yang asked happy for any distraction from her current feelings.

"Shade academy, my name's Saphton," she said struggling to lift one of he teammates. James picked up on this and did was his father and mother had trained him for.

"Allow me, madam," he said stepping over to her and deftly slung one of her teammates over his right shoulder and one over his left. There was one boy still unconscious but either Slick or his brother had come out and carrying him fireman's style to the door. The student's car was waiting for them and after securing them inside the leader drove them off. Most likely to the docks to get them to Beacon.

When James sat back down he looked into his coffee and said. "I heard about Jaune."

Yang wanted to ask how but she knew that Jorge had most likely called him that it was for that very reason that he was here and not at some bar drinking himself into oblivion. Yang knew that Jorge could tell where she was going to go. She only really knew of three places in Vale. Junior's bar the dinner and Jaune's safehouse. But she couldn't get into the safehouse and Junior's was out of the question.

"Yeah," Yang muttered. She was still processing all of it so she just felt more blank than anything else.

" I wish I felt worse about it but right now," James offered. He had already been through enough. Too much in fact. Right now he wasn't able to process any more loss so he simply didn't. He offered Yang his cup and after a moment she gently clinked her's against it.

Life was going to be rough but they would survive.

right?

 _ **okay, everyone, I am going to be shifting over to the Jorge five prime timeline for a story maybe two. THIS IS NOT THE END OF THIS STORY JUST BE PATIENT AND HAVE A LITTLE FAITH thank you.**_


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